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| At Windy Masters, Jordan Spieth Stumbles, and Rory McIlroy Charges In | At Windy Masters, Jordan Spieth Stumbles, and Rory McIlroy Charges In |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| AUGUSTA, Ga. — Reduce this year’s Masters to Jordan Spieth versus Rory McIlroy at your peril. | |
| With two rounds to play, there is a mob of fine golfers just behind them and more blustery weather just ahead of them. | With two rounds to play, there is a mob of fine golfers just behind them and more blustery weather just ahead of them. |
| But there is certainly no doubt which pairing on Saturday deserves to be the biggest magnet for spectators. | But there is certainly no doubt which pairing on Saturday deserves to be the biggest magnet for spectators. |
| Spieth, the 22-year-old defending champion, is still in the lead but no longer on quite the same roll after the first over-par round (74) of his brief and remarkable Masters career. | Spieth, the 22-year-old defending champion, is still in the lead but no longer on quite the same roll after the first over-par round (74) of his brief and remarkable Masters career. |
| McIlroy, the 26-year-old would-be champion, trails by only one shot after a gutty 71 on Friday that put him solidly back in contention to win the only major title he is missing. | |
| “I’d rather be playing with someone less threatening, to be honest,” Spieth said, prompting laughter in the interview room. “He’s certainly proven himself in the majors, but I think it’s going to be fun — a really fun challenge.” | |
| A 71 might not sound like much of a charge at Augusta National, the garden spot where Spieth finished at 18 under par last year. | A 71 might not sound like much of a charge at Augusta National, the garden spot where Spieth finished at 18 under par last year. |
| But McIlroy’s round was worth toasting in the clubhouse on Friday, with nerves fraying and tree limbs swaying in gusty conditions that whipped sand out of the bunkers on the 18th into spectators’ faces at one uncivilized stage. | But McIlroy’s round was worth toasting in the clubhouse on Friday, with nerves fraying and tree limbs swaying in gusty conditions that whipped sand out of the bunkers on the 18th into spectators’ faces at one uncivilized stage. |
| “I think I was just trying to fend off the golf course,” McIlroy said. | “I think I was just trying to fend off the golf course,” McIlroy said. |
| He did it very effectively. There were only four rounds under par on Friday, and none better than 71. | He did it very effectively. There were only four rounds under par on Friday, and none better than 71. |
| “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 a 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 on the way to a 70. On Friday, he played the final six holes in three under and the final three holes in one under. |
| To manage it, he needed to sink a curling, 40-foot birdie putt on 16 and then make a great escape on the 18th after driving into the trees and then hunching low to try to get a clear view out of trouble. | To manage it, he needed to sink a curling, 40-foot birdie putt on 16 and then make a great escape on the 18th after driving into the trees and then 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 found enough daylight to punch the ball low off the pine straw with a 4-iron and onto the fairway, where he then hit a fine approach shot that landed high above the hole and rolled slowly back to within 12 feet of the pin. | But he found enough daylight to punch the ball low off the pine straw with a 4-iron and onto the fairway, where he then hit a fine approach shot that landed high above the hole and rolled slowly back to within 12 feet of the pin. |
| McIlroy then holed his putt for par. | McIlroy then holed his putt for par. |
| “Huge,” McIlroy said. | “Huge,” McIlroy said. |
| Spieth did some fine scrambling of his own. After Thursday’s hyper-resourceful, bogey-free 66, he quickly dropped to eight under after two birdies on the first three holes and opened up a five-shot lead at one early stage. | Spieth did some fine scrambling of his own. After Thursday’s hyper-resourceful, bogey-free 66, he quickly dropped to eight under 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 were four more bogeys and just two more birdies from there. | 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 were four more bogeys and just two more birdies from there. |
| “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.” | “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.” |
| Yet at four under, he remains the sole leader for the sixth straight round at the Masters, a remarkable achievement for a young man 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 at the 11th hole on Friday. With the group’s pace of play being monitored, he ran the risk of a two-shot penalty. | 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 at the 11th hole on Friday. With the group’s pace of play being monitored, he ran the risk of a two-shot penalty. |
| Though no penalty was imposed, Spieth was far from delighted. “I wouldn’t say it was unfair,” he said. “I would say, Have fun getting on the clock at 11 of Augusta and then play 11 and 12 rushing with gusting winds. It’s not fun; not fun at all.” | |
| McIlroy, who started his round nearly two hours earlier, plays at a brisker pace. And the contrast in their styles and personalities could make for quite an intragenerational tussle at this Masters. | |
| McIlroy and Spieth 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. | McIlroy and Spieth 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 course where he had won in 1977 and 1981, doffing his cap repeatedly and tearing up on the 18th green after he thanked his longtime caddie Neil Oxman. | Watson, a two-time Masters champion, was greeted with ovation after ovation as he walked the rolling course where he had won in 1977 and 1981, 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 seven-over total of 151. | 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 seven-over total of 151. |
| “I know it was tough,” he said of the course conditions. “But it wasn’t as tough as I made it look.” | “I know it was tough,” he said of the course conditions. “But it wasn’t as tough as I made it look.” |
| 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. | 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 and McIlroy have not yet had a great duel in the sun (or the shade) at a major. But they have been paired together with some frequency, including the first two days of the 2014 Masters. | Spieth and McIlroy have not yet had a great duel in the sun (or the shade) at a major. But they have been 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 3,” 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.” | “I don’t think I can get wrapped up in that and buy into the Big 3,” 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 García and Dustin Johnson are four behind. | 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 García and Dustin Johnson are four behind. |
| Also in that group is Bryson DeChambeau, the 22-year-old United States 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 unplayable drive set him up for big trouble and a triple bogey. | |
| “People think, ‘Oh my gosh, he was nervous,’ ” DeChambeau said. “No, I wasn’t nervous. I pulled two shots.” | |
| But Friday was undoubtedly 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). | “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. |
| McIlroy has done most of his damage on Augusta’s four par 5s (he is a combined seven under on those holes so far this year). His round Friday featured five birdies and two bogeys, and a double bogey on the par-3 fourth hole that could have derailed him. | |
| But McIlroy, who was the pretournament focus last year, was not the prime focus this time. | |
| “I felt I was just part of the narrative instead of the narrative,” McIlroy said. | “I felt I was just part of the narrative instead of the narrative,” McIlroy said. |
| He will now be a big part of the narrative on Saturday. Just be careful about making it all about McIlroy and Spieth. Too many ill winds and talented men remain. | He will now be a big part of the narrative on Saturday. Just be careful about making it all about McIlroy and Spieth. Too many ill winds and talented men remain. |