GOLF’S MASTER BY A WHISKER: REED ALL ABOUT IT
Sizzling Smith sets the bar high
A DUAL top-10 finish was enough to guarantee two Aussie returns to Augusta next year and after Cameron Smith’s sizzling Sunday it can’t happen soon enough.
The Queenslander, 24, earned his second top-10 finish in just eight major starts with six back nine birdies and a par save on the 16th hole that showed the unflappable youngster has green jacket winning ways. He wouldn’t say finishing tied for fifth was his career highlight, pointing to his Australian PGA breakthrough last summer.
But, having laid the platform all week for being ultra-chilled and taking everything in his stride, a 30-shot back nine at Augusta on Masters Sunday finally moved his needle and further thrust the star’s name up in lights.
Smith didn’t shoot a single round over par in four full-on days and even outplayed world No.1 Dustin Johnson in the final round, beating him by three shots.
It was a signal to the golfing world that this kid was a full-on member of the generation next group of stars.
Marc Leishman, who outplayed Tiger Woods for the opening two days to find himself in contention on Saturday, shot the final round he wanted the day before.
The world No.16 closed with a two-under 70, after a 73 in the third round sent him tumbling. But his late rally, including five birdies on the back nine, propelled him into the top 10 and booked his return next year.
“I wish it maybe hadn’t rained yesterday, it might have been a different story,” Leishman said.
Jason Day was next best, but one round in the 60s, and an opening 75, ensured he was never in the hunt. He finished tied for 20th.
Fellow Aussie Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champ, declared he may need to “change something” after battling his putter and he finished tied for 32nd.
RUSSELL GOULD
PATRICK Reed was never going to back down. He never has, from anything, from the naysayers, the critics, the accusers who have whispered in back rooms about what he might have done somewhere a long time ago.
But no one was going to hand him the Masters either, certainly not the bold brigade of brilliant finishers who rallied at Augusta yesterday to give Reed the fight of his life.
Jordan Spieth nearly managed the biggest comeback in Masters history, with a stunning reminder of his Augusta awesomeness. Coming from eight shots down he joined the lead late before finishing two shots back.
Rickie Fowler was runnerup, within touching distance of his own major breakthrough and stepping out of the “best player not to win a major” group of would-be champions.
But even Fowler — who stuffed his second shot so close on the 18th he nearly walked in a birdie to get to 14-under, the number he knew was right — thought Reed would not pack it in.
And he didn’t. The 27-yearold, who went to college in Augusta, his second college after being “dismissed” from his first, made his own clutch par putt on the last hole to ensure he would be welcome at the Masters forever.
“Patrick, he’s not scared. He’s not scared on the golf course,” Fowler said.
“He’ll play aggressive. He’ll play his game. He won’t back down. I don’t necessarily see him as someone that backs up and will let you come back into the tournament. You have to go catch him.
“I knew I had to at least get to 14 most likely. But that’s how he is. He’s a fighter.”
Reed, the world No.11, isn’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea. His brash antics with Team USA in recent Ryder Cups had plenty of golfing purists turning up their noses.
Rory McIlroy, a one-time Ryder Cup foe, got a bigger cheer when the pair were introduced on the first tee.
But Reed, 27, said that only “fuelled my fire”, and his play through four days of this Masters could not be denied.
He led after the second round, by one, and again after the third, this time by three. The chasers were, like Fowler said, going to have to get him.
His closing effort of 71 was his worst score of the week, by two shots. But he pulled out the big plays when he needed them and got a couple of nice breaks.
SS oo mme ss cc rr ee aa meme d his ball musmust have had velcro oon it when his second shot tto the 13th green stayed out of Rae’s Creek and stuck to the bank, for him to get up and down for par.
Then he coolly collected the final one on 18, to put the challengers back in their place, and head to Butler Cabin to slip on a green jacket.
“It definitely wasn’t easy today. I knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Reed said. “It’s just a way of God basically saying, ‘Let’s see if you have it.’
“You know, it was awesome and satisfying to make the clutch putts I did on the back nine . . . to kind of give me that belief going into the last couple that no matter what they throw at me, I can do this.”