www.globalgolfpost.com
APRIL 9, 2012
Frustration Catches Tiger On The Toe
The Fourth Derails
Mickelson’s Fourth
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | Of all the places
where dreams go to die at Augusta
National, none is less likely than the
fourth hole, a par 3 of 220 yards. It was
the scene of Phil Mickelson’s undoing.
Only one shot out of the lead at the
start of Sunday’s final round, Mickelson
was the clear favorite to win his fourth
Masters title. Only two players on the leaderboard – Louis Oosthuizen and Padraig
Harrington – had won a major previously.
And even though Oosthuizen scored a
theatrical double-eagle at the second hole
to take the lead, it still appeared that the
title was Mickelson’s for the taking.
That is, until the fourth. He block-
sliced his tee shot wide left. It clattered
off the left grandstands and into a patch
of bamboo. Two right-handed swipes at
the ball got it onto an area of hardpan.
He chunked his fourth shot into the
greenside bunker and got up and down
for a triple-bogey six. It put him a five
shots behind the leader and he never
caught up. Mickelson shot 72 on Sun-
day and finished at 8 under, two shots
behind the leaders. Ever the optimist,
Mickelson was sanguine after the round.
Sergio Garcia has given up. He says
he doesn’t have what it takes to win
major championships.
“I’m not good enough,” Garcia, 32,
told Spanish reporters at The Masters. “I
don’t have the thing I need to have. In 13
years, I’ve come to the conclusion that I
need to play for second or third place.”
Asked if that applied only to The
Masters, Garcia said, “In any major.”
Garcia started the third round at 4
under, one behind the leaders. But he
bogeyed three of his first four holes on
his way to a 75.
“I had my chances and opportunities
and I wasted them,” he said. “I have no
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | Tiger Woods’
tantrum drew more attention than
his golf in Saturday’s third round at
The Masters.
Woods, his game completely out
of sorts, showed his frustration with
a couple of verbal outbursts and then
after a poor tee shot on the par- 3
16th hole, he tossed his club and angrily kicked it away. He made bogey.
The only surprising thing is that
he had not erupted earlier. On Saturday, he offered an apology.
“Certainly, I’m frustrated at times
and I apologize if I offended anybody
by that,” Woods said. “But I’ve hit
some bad shots and it’s certainly
frustrating at times not hitting the
ball where you need to hit it.
“I certainly heard that people
didn’t like me kicking the club, but I
didn’t like it either. I hit it right in the
bunker and it didn’t feel good on my
toe either.”
In the second round, Woods failed
to make a birdie or an eagle on any of
the par 5 holes for only the third time
in the 69 rounds he has played at
Augusta National. He did it again, for
the fourth time, in the third round.
Coming into the week, Woods was
133-under par on the par 5s. “
Unfortunately I did not play the par 5s
very well,” Woods said after the third
round. “I would like to say it was poor
driving, but then I drive in the fairways
and then miss into a bad spot or I
would miss the drive and then compound the problem from there. It was
just one thing after another.” l
V.K.
Tiger Woods let his emotions get the
best of him in Friday’s second round.
more options. I wasted my options.” He
asked reporters, “Tell me something I
can do.”
Augusta National confirmed late
Sunday it had procured the ball used by
Oosthuizen to make double-eagle on the
second hole Sunday. It was the first two
on the par- 5 hole in the long and storied
history of The Masters.
