Masters Day 3 - Augusta Setting up to Make History

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

HISTORY could be made at Augusta today, with a 20-year-old bidding to become the youngest major winner in modern times, a 50-year-old Spaniard attempting to become the oldest and two rookies attempting to become the first since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 to win on their debut.

And what a difference a day made for Bubba Watson. Having dropped just two shots in 36 holes, while making this game look ridiculously easy, he found it all rather more difficult as he attempts to win The Masters for the second time.

A stuttering 74 included five bogeys and a stone-cold putter. Having begun the day with a three-shot lead, he ended it tied with Jordan Spieth, the kid who would be king, on 211, five under par.

On a glorious spring day, it soon became evident that the early starters had enjoyed the best of the conditions. There were plenty of sub-par scores but as the greens dried out it became increasingly difficult to stop putts on the concrete-like surfaces unless the hole got in the way.

The wise old sages who predicted that Watson couldn't play 72 holes without a disaster shook their heads knowingly when he dropped a shot at the first. And they choked into their gin and tonics when he shrugged that off with an eagle at the second to move to eight under par.

With playing partner John Senden dropping shots and Adam Scott, the defending champion, frittering away four strokes in the first six holes, Watson found himself five ahead.

The 35-year-old left-hander dropped another shot at the par-three third and with  Spieth, the heir-apparent to Tiger Woods, picking up a birdie at the sixth he had moved to four under, three behind Watson. The leader dropped shots at the sixth and seventh, and with Thomas Bjorn, of Denmark, and Sweden's Jonas Blixt joining Spieth on four under, suddenly the lead was down to a single shot.

It got worse for Watson when Bjorn and Blixt birdied the ninth to join him in the lead. Clearly nobody has told Blixt that first-timers at Augusta are not meant to challenge.

Matt Kuchar is one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour, as well as being one of the most consistent. All that is missing from his CV is a major. His 68 saw him climb the leaderboard and he will start the final round on four under.

Sadly, Amen Corner jumped up and bit Blixt. Bogeys at the 10th and 11th could be expensive when the final scores are tallied. But he came back with a couple of birdies and eventually finished one off the lead. Bjorn dropped three shots late on but, only three adrift, will still feel he a chance to win today.

Spieth, meanwhile, played like the old hand he isn't. A bogey at the 11th failed to knock him out of his stride and he bounced back with birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to move to five under. Now he was one behind Watson. Can he really only be 20 years old?

Bjorn has finished second three times in majors since 2000 and is playing the best golf of his life at 43.

He is a spring chicken when compared with Miguel Angel Jimenez.  You have just got to take your hat off to the Spaniard. He is 50 years old, he is overweight and he doesn't have the prettiest looking swing. On top of that, he enjoys a drop (or two) of red wine, smokes cigars and has a warm-up routine that wouldn't unduly tax most 90-year-olds.  

But man, can he still compete, and you had better believe that Paul McGinley wants him in Europe's Ryder Cup team. Jimenez made the cut on three over par and picked up two shots on the front nine. There was more to come. Although he dropped a shot at the 12th, Jimenez birdied the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th holes to record a best of the week 66 for a 54-hole total of 213, three under par.   

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel fantastic. I like the feeling of the knot in my stomach. I feel that thing since Monday when I got here, it doesn’t disappear. I love that kind of pressure. I love that thing. That’s why I’m still competing.
“Experience is always very important. Not about hitting the shot or whatever, it’s just about passion and staying calm. This golf course is demanding. You need to be very
strong mentally.”

Gary Woodland started the day 10 shots behind Watson. He birdied the first and eagled the second to move to level par. And he wasn't finished. Not by a long way. The American birdied the sixth, eighth and ninth to reach the turn in a record-equalling 30 shots and at that point was three under.

He then birdied the 10th to move to four under par. Seven under par for 10 holes was the stuff of dreams. He couldn't keep it, surely?

The 29-year-old, who has never finished better than a tie for 24th at Augusta, is a formidable striker of the ball but his career has been blighted by injury, otherwise he would have rather more than two PGA Tour titles to his name.

His first reverse of the day came at the 11th, where he recorded a bogey. Worse followed at the 12th, where he dumped his tee shot in the water and took a double-bogey five to tumble back to one under. A birdie followed at the 13th, but the wind had been taken out of Woodland's sails and it was little surprise when further shots went at the 14th and 18th and Woodland was left to ponder: "What if?"

There was some good news for British fans, with Ian Poulter's 70 moving him back to level par, although he had been two under at one point. He played with Rickie Fowler, whose 67, moves him to three under.

Justin Rose, the US Open champion, was livid with himself after his opening round of 76, four over par, but the Englishman is one of the gutsiest players on tour and he followed it with a 70 to comfortably make the cut. His good form continued in the third round with a 69 that leaves him on 215, one under par.

And Lee Westwood has rediscovered his best form at Augusta, despite continuing to suffer horribly on the greens. He had a 70 that leaves him on two under par.

However, Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, playing his first Masters, went the other way. He started the third round on one under par but double-bogeys at the 10th and 11th ended his challenge. And Jamie Donaldson, leading Europe's Race To Dubai, also frittered shots away and tumbled down the leaderboard.