You get the feeling that McIlroy believes that no one can catch him so long as he doesn't screw up. He is playing very conservatively, and his strategy so far is working very well. The hole positions today are so difficult that no one has been able to get on much of a roll.
1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -10 (49 holes)
T2. A. Cabrera (ARG): -8 (54)
T2. C. Schwartzel (RSA): -8 (53)
T2. K.J. Choi (KOR): -8 (50)
T2. J. Day (AUS): -8 (49)
McIlroy and Day both par the 14th.
ReplyDeleteCBS points out that the last five pairings are a combined 8 over par for the day. Choi is the only golfer in the last five pairings who is under par for the day.
ReplyDeleteOK, here's Choi on 15. He was right in the middle of the fairway, but he chooses to lay up.
ReplyDeleteWoods would have to hit an enormous hook shot around a strand of trees to reach the green. And that's exactly what he does, the ball landing just on the front of the green.
Choi knew what he was doing with that layup. His pitch to the 15th green is in a very good place for a birdie.
ReplyDeleteSchwartzel pars the 18th. He finishes with a 68 that leaves him at 8 under for the tournament.
Tiger's eagle putt on 15 was on line, but he hasn't been able to gauge the speeds all day and he comes up a few feet short.
ReplyDeleteChoi's birdie putt was lined up wrong, and it drifts off to the right. He takes par to remain at 8 under.
ReplyDeleteTiger has about three or four feet left for birdie. He makes the same mis-read as Choi, and his putt drifts off to the right. It is just not his day. He taps in for par and remains at 6 under.
ReplyDeleteNow McIlroy has a chance to bring the hammer down on the field. He has a two shot lead with the 15th hole to play. If he can make birdie here, he will be back to a three-shot lead and in a very strong position for tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteDay, desperately needing a birdie to keep pace with McIlroy, comes up just short on 15 and his ball drifts to a stop just above the pond.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy, looking like a guy wanting to bring the hammer down, whangs his second shot right into the middle of the 15th green. He will have a good shot for eagle.
Tiger, looking like a guy who hasn't been able to make a putt all day, drifts his drive on 16 to the back of the green.
ReplyDeleteCouples finishes with a 72 that leaves him at five under, only one shot behind Low American.
Choi's tee shot on 16 lands in the middle of the green, setting him up for a likely par.
ReplyDeleteSince he got to 11 under earlier in the round, Day has been playing like a man carefully trying to pick his way through a minefield. That's not the best way to play Augusta, which prefers a more aggressive approach, and he has lost three shots to par. He flips his third shot onto the green at 15, but he will probably have to settle for par.
ReplyDeleteChoi's birdie putt on 16 drifts off to the left.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy, playing his eagle putt as if he will be happy to make birdie, gets it to within a few feet.
ReplyDeleteTiger's birdie putt on 16 was never going in, and comes up about two feet short.
ReplyDeleteTiger makes par to stay 6 under.
ReplyDeleteDay becomes the first person in a very long time to make a putt of more than ten feet, as he knocks in a HUGE birdie on 15 to go to 9 under.
McIlroy taps in for his birdie to go to 11 under. But he would be feeling better if Day had missed that putt. If I were McIlroy, I would be annoyed that Day keeps hanging around and hanging around.
Choi pars 16 to remain at 8 under.
ReplyDeleteTiger's drive on 17 drifts off to the left.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy, playing with extreme caution, floats his tee shot on 16 to the middle of the green, and it slopes away from the hole.
Choi's drive on 17 goes well off to the right.
Day, playing with aggression, aims his tee shot on 16 right at the flag -- but he comes up just short and his ball drifts down next to McIlroy's.
Day's birdie putt on 16 goes about four feet past the hole.
ReplyDeleteTiger's drive on 17 ended up under a tree, and he is having to hit his second shot with a weird crouch. Somehow he whacks the ball all the way up to the front bunker, where he will have a chance to save par.
McIlroy lags his putt on 16 and leaves himself an easy tap-in.
Choi's second shot on 17 bounces off short of the green. He will have a very difficult up and down.
Day really needs to make this putt for par on 16, but he cannot. He drops the shot that he made up on 15, and now McIlroy has his three-shot lead.
ReplyDeleteChoi makes a good chip shot on 17, but Tiger makes a dreadful bunker shot. They will both have tricky putts for par, but I don't think Tiger has made a putt of this length all day.
ReplyDeleteTiger finally makes a putt! He saves par on the 17th to remain at 6 under and maintain his position as Low American.
ReplyDeleteChoi's drive on 18 goes into a fairway bunker, and his second shot runs through the green, but he has a good chance to save par.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy, who has been playing with great care -- putting the ball in the middle of the green and leaving himself with long birdie putts -- nails a long birdie putt on 17. He goes to 12 under par -- four shots clear of the field. Unless he collapses tomorrow, he will surely be the Masters champion.
ReplyDeleteAfter a nice drive on 18, Tiger's shot skies over the green and bounces off of a tripod. Like Choi, he will need to get up and down for par.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy bangs his drive on 18 out into the fairway. As does Day.
ReplyDeleteTiger, now just playing for Low American, hits a weak chip that will leave him with a very difficult par putt. Choi, now just playing for Low Asian, hits a very good chip that leaves him with a tap-in for par.
ReplyDeleteTiger misses his putt and finishes with an agonizing 74. From tee to green, he played about as well as anyone all day, but his putting was simply atrocious.
ReplyDeleteChoi taps in for a 71 that leaves him at 8 under.
McIlroy, looking every inch the 2011 Masters Champion, hits a nine-iron to within 20 feet for yet another birdie putt. It is impossible to overstate what an easy time he is having of it. He hasn't had any trouble since the 10th hole -- it's been fairways and greens all the way.
ReplyDeleteTiger agrees with me, telling CBS that he hit the ball well but couldn't make any putts. He's exactly right.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the putting is the big issue for Tiger. I've always thought he could get his swing back, but some great golfers -- particularly Watson and Palmer -- really struggled with their putting once they got to be Tiger's age. You have to wonder if Tiger will have the same problem.
Day's birdie putt on 18 comes up short, and he finishes with a 72 that leaves him 8 under par.
ReplyDeleteNow McIlroy has a chance to really bury the field with a birdie putt that could put him five shots ahead. But he just barely misses. Still, he taps in for a 70 that leaves him 12 under and four shots clear of the field.
My eyesight has been fantastic all my life. I turned 42 last August, and, in the last two months, I've realized I need to get some reading glasses. I recently couldn't read the fine print on a map after a long day of driving.
ReplyDeleteCleaning out my garage right now. Transferring all of my golf stuff from one bag to a Ball State bag I picked up for $5 at a Salvation Army store last year.
ReplyDeleteBest discovery was some old books of matches that my dad still had in his bag when he died. Also, his old glove, which still smells of his sweat and cigarettes.
If I make it to 80, I'm taking up smoking when I golf. I'll use those matches then.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea. I'm also planning to take up smoking when I turn 80.
ReplyDeleteOK, great. I'll tell you what. If you make it to 80 and take up smoking, I will go ahead and start smoking on the golf course when I'm 78.
ReplyDelete