BERN’S RULES BLAST
ROSE FAILS TO BEAT THE CURSE
GOLF
BERNHARD LANGER attacked rules officials, after making his 26th cut at the Masters, for a lack of “common sense” over issuing him a slow-play warning.
The German (below), now 61, went into yesterday’s third round just six shots off the lead after meticulous opening rounds of 71 and 72. But the double Masters champion, the oldest player to make the weekend, was unhappy.
“They came over on the third and they told us we’re 10 minutes behind,” said Langer.
“We waited eight minutes on the tee shot on No.2 and then we made it four minutes on the second shot on No.2.
“That’s 12 minutes. So no wonder we’re 10 minutes behind. I don’t know where they got their information from.
“They said, ‘You’re 10 minutes behind’. I said, ‘Well, is that my fault? We can’t play any faster. Want me to hit it over their heads?’ You’d think they’d have more common sense.”
Langer and his caddie Terry Holt have a combined age of 101 and he hit 25 of 28 fairways over the first two rounds.
But the German said: “I’m 40 yards behind everybody.
“I’m hitting a four iron and they’re hitting a nine iron. If you hit it short you better hit it straight, right?
“Short and crooked would be pretty bad. I would still rather hit a nine iron and have a little less experience!” JUSTIN ROSE continued the curse of the world No.1 at the Masters as he failed to join the biggest number of players to ever play the weekend at Augusta.
Sixty-five players in the 87-man field made the cut – including four amateurs and 61-year-old Bernhard Langer.
But Rose bogeyed his final two holes to miss by one shot his first ever cut at the Masters in his 14th appearance here.
He had finished in the top-15 in the last five years, including two runner-up performances.
“I’ve been playing terribly this week,” confessed the Olympic champion. “Missed a four-footer at the last, which just sums it up.”
Tiger Woods was the last world No.1 to win a Green Jacket, back in 2002. Four amateurs made the cut for the first time since 1999: Viktor Hovland of Norway, Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico, Japan’s Takumi Kanaya and the winner of the best name competition – Devon Bling of the United States.
British Amateur champion Jovan Rebula of South Africa – the nephew of Ernie Els – missed out.