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At Windy Masters, Rory McIlroy Nearly Catches Jordan Spieth At Windy Masters, Rory McIlroy Nearly Catches Jordan Spieth
(about 1 hour later)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A 71 might not sound like much of a charge at Augusta National, the verdant place where the reigning Masters champion Jordan Spieth finished at 18 under par last year. AUGUSTA, Ga. — A 71 might not sound like much of a charge at Augusta National, the garden spot where the reigning champion Jordan Spieth finished at 18-under par last year.
But 71 was certainly a round worth toasting at the Masters on Friday, with nerves fraying and tree limbs swaying in the gusty conditions. Although Rory McIlroy had plenty of misadventures on the trail to his 71, it put him back in clear contention to win the only major championship he is missing. But 71 was definitely a round worth toasting in the clubhouse at the Masters on Friday, with nerves fraying and tree limbs swaying in the gusty conditions. Though Rory McIlroy had plenty of misadventures on the trail to his 71, it put him back in clear contention to win the only major championship he is missing.
McIlroy’s mood-swinging 71 left him at three under par after two rounds and alone in second place in the clubhouse. He is one shot behind Spieth, who shot a 74, battling the conditions and backing away from putts and approach shots on occasion in the wind. His mood-swinging performance left him at three under par after two rounds and along in second place, one shot behind Spieth, still the leader but no longer on quite the same roll.
“I think that’s the hardest thing, just trusting clubs,” McIlroy said to ESPN after the round. After Thursday’s resourceful, bogey-free 66, Spieth moved to eight under on Friday after two birdies on the first three holes and opened up a five-shot lead at one early stage. But the venerable Augusta course has a great deal more bite this year than in 2015, and it soon took a significant toll on Spieth’s bottom line, beginning with a double bogey on the par-4 fifth hole in which Spieth — one of the game’s great putters — missed twice from relatively short range. There would be four more bogeys and just two more birdies from there for Spieth as he finished with a 74, his first over-par round at the Masters in his three appearances.
It was a day to question one’s judgment — a day when the implement in your hand was only an abrupt wind shift away from becoming the wrong implement. “Really tough conditions for where the pins were located, and the greens got really crusty in the end,” Spieth told ESPN after the round. “It was a battle.”
“Go ahead! Full commitment!” said Terry Mundy, Ian Poulter’s caddie, urging Poulter to hit his tee shot on the watery, treacherous 12th hole. Poulter still missed the green. And yet at four under, he remains the sole leader for the sixth straight round at the Masters, a remarkable achievement for a 22-year-old who cannot overwhelm the course with power off the tee.
There is no grip it and rip it in Spieth’s golf. He is a deep thinker, so reflective that officials put his group “on the clock” for slow play near the end of the first round on Thursday and midway through Friday’s round. With their pace of play being monitored, there was the risk of a two-shot penalty.
Though no penalty was imposed, Spieth was far from delighted.
“Tough too when you’re put on the clock in Amen Corner and trying to battle gusting winds but have to hit the shot fast; otherwise there’s a potential of getting strokes,” he said.
McIlroy, who started his round nearly two hours earlier, plays at a brisker, jauntier pace. And the contrast in their styles and personalities could make for quite an intra-generational tussle at this Masters.
McIlroy and Spieth will be in the final pairing on Saturday, and they set the table for that matchup on the same day that the 66-year-old Tom Watson played his final round at the Masters, missing the cut at eight over.
Watson, a two-time Masters champion, was greeted with ovation after ovation as he walked the rolling Augusta National course, doffing his cap repeatedly and tearing up on the 18th green after he thanked his longtime caddie Neil Oxman.
“He was going to plow out ahead of me and let me have my glory, and I said: ‘No way. You’re walking up the last hole with me,’ ” Watson said.
Phil Mickelson, at 45, is nowhere near his last Masters, but he too failed to make the cut, missing it by one shot with a two-round, seven-over total of 151. Other former Masters champions to miss the cut included Zach Johnson, Charl Schwartzel and Trevor Immelman. The two-time winner Bubba Watson, who finished at 150, appeared to be in that group as well, until a late bogey from Spieth on 17 put Watson within the requisite 10 shots of the leader.
Spieth, 22, and McIlroy, 26, have not yet had a great duel in the sun (or the shade). But they were paired together with some frequency, including the first two days of the 2014 Masters.
“I don’t think I can get wrapped up in that and buy into the big three,” McIlroy said of the label used to describe him, Spieth and the world No. 1 Jason Day, who is at one over, five shots off the lead. “Of course, it’s great for the game. But whenever I’m out there playing and competing, that’s absolutely not what I should be thinking about. I should be concentrating on myself and thinking about what I need to do to win this golf tournament, regardless of who else is up there.”
There is plenty of talent in striking range. The young New Zealander Danny Lee and the American Scott Piercy are two shots off the lead at two under. Brandt Snedeker, Soren Kjeldsen and Hideki Matsuyama are tied for fifth at one under. Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson, two of the best current golfers yet to win a major, are part of a seven-man group that is just four shots behind Spieth at even par.
Also in that group is Bryson DeChambeau, the 22-year-old amateur and N.C.A.A. champion. He played with Spieth for the first two rounds and was at three under heading into the 18th hole on Friday before an errant drive set him up for big trouble and a triple bogey.
Friday was a day to question one’s own judgment; a day when the implement in one’s hand was only an abrupt wind shift away from becoming the wrong implement.
“Go ahead! Full commitment,” said Terry Mundy, Ian Poulter’s caddie, urging Poulter to hit his tee shot on the watery, treacherous 12th hole (Poulter still missed the green).
There were other such exhortations, along with plenty of mutterings. But McIlroy maintained a relatively even strain amid all the changes in his fortunes and scorecard.There were other such exhortations, along with plenty of mutterings. But McIlroy maintained a relatively even strain amid all the changes in his fortunes and scorecard.
His round featured five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 fourth hole that might have knocked a less stable champion off balance for longer. But McIlroy, whose attempt to win the only major he lacks was the pretournament focus last year, has not been the prime focus this year with Spieth defending his title and Jason Day on a roll. His round featured five birdies and two bogeys, and a double bogey on the par-3 fourth hole that might have knocked a less stable champion off balance for longer. But McIlroy, whose attempt to win the only major he lacks was the pretournament focus last year, has not been the prime focus this year with Spieth defending his title and Day in top form of late.
“I definitely feel I’m coming in this year without as much hyper-anticipation,” he said. “You’ve got Jordan coming back as defending champion and Jason coming in as No. 1 in the world.” “I definitely feel I’m coming in this year without as much hyper-anticipation,” McIlroy said. “You’ve got Jordan coming back as defending champion and Jason coming in as No. 1 in the world.”
He added: “I felt I was just part of the narrative instead of the narrative.” He added: “I felt I was just part of the narrative instead of the narrative.”
But he will certainly be a big part of the narrative Saturday. But he will certainly be a big part of the narrative on Saturday. “I feel so much better about myself after today than I did yesterday,” McIlroy said.
“I feel so much better about myself after today than I did yesterday,” McIlroy said. On Thursday, McIlroy bogeyed two of the final three holes on the way to his 70. On Friday, he played the final six holes in three under and the final three holes in one under.
On Thursday, McIlroy bogeyed two of the final three holes en route to his 70. On Friday, he played the final six holes in three under par and the final three holes in one under par.
To manage it, he needed a great escape on the 18th after driving into the trees, hunching low to try to get a clear view out of trouble.To manage it, he needed a great escape on the 18th after driving into the trees, hunching low to try to get a clear view out of trouble.
“There actually wasn’t a window,” he said.“There actually wasn’t a window,” he said.
But he punched the ball low off the pine straw and onto the fairway, where he then hit a terrific approach shot that landed high above the hole and rolled slowly back to within 12 feet of the pin.But he punched the ball low off the pine straw and onto the fairway, where he then hit a terrific approach shot that landed high above the hole and rolled slowly back to within 12 feet of the pin.
He then holed his par putt. He then holed his par putt. “Huge,” said McIlroy, who had earlier made a long, curling birdie putt on 16.
“Huge,” said McIlroy, who had made a long, curling birdie putt on the 16th.
Spieth, on the other hand, struggled. Although he had two birdies in his first three holes to reach seven under and built a five-stroke lead, a double bogey at the fifth was an ominous sign. Over the next 13 holes, he collected four more bogeys, including at Nos. 16 and 17.
In the clubhouse at two under par are Danny Lee and Scott Piercy.
Lee’s misadventures included a double bogey on No. 3, shots that ended up in the water on Nos. 12 and 13 and consecutive bogeys at the finish after three-putting on Nos. 17 and 18. But all that still did not remove him from the leader board
“I’m very happy with where I finished today, but I am very disappointed that I made two 3-putts in a row,” Lee said. “They were all good putts, and I just didn’t see it going back like that. And it just happened. What can you do? But it is playing tough out there. Wind is very gusty.”
Lee, 25, had a breakthrough year in 2015, winning his first PGA Tour event at the Greenbrier Classic, tying for second at the Tour Championship and making his first Presidents Cup team. He had more top 10 finishes on the tour (eight) than McIlroy.
Lee has a global background. He was born in South Korea, where his mother once taught the game, and then moved to New Zealand as a boy to develop his talent. Now based in the United States, he continues to represent New Zealand where despite Lee’s recent success, he is not the nation’s most prominent young golfer.
That is Lydia Ko, the 18-year-old who has been a dominant force in women’s golf. She recently won her second major and made an appearance at the Masters this week.
“Whatever she’s doing, I want to learn how she does it,” Lee told The New Zealand Herald.
Day could not recover from playing poorly on his closing holes Thursday. He began Friday at even par and bogeyed his first hole. He reached two under by the turn, but fell back to one over by the end of his round.