Lush scenery lost on Lefty as round sours
AUGUSTA, Ga. —The azaleas are lovely at Augusta National this time of year.
Phil Mickelson wasn't enthralled by the flowering shrubs deep in the pine trees along the ninth fairway.
The three-time champion had his second round of the 2018 Masters fall apart on the final hole of the front nine Friday. Mickelson took a triple bogey after his second shot from off the fairway hit a tree and the ball ricocheted well to his right and deeper into the pines. The good news was he found the ball. The bad news was he found it.
Mickelson took an unplayable lie after the ball was in a group of azaleas. He finished with a seven on the par-4 hole when a chip to the green nearly rolled off the putting surface and further complicated the woes.
In his previous 95 rounds at the Masters, Mickelson carded worse than a double bogey on the hole only one other time.
“I just hit the tree,” Mickelson said. “There was plenty of gap. I just pushed it trying to run a 2-iron down to the green and get up and down and salvage par. . I found it, but it was in the bushes, and the drop would have been worse.”
By the end of the day, Mickelson shot a 7-over 79, tying his worst round ever at the Masters. His two-round total of 5 over par put him right on the cut line. He'll be around for the weekend, but with a very early tee time. Mickelson tied for 46th.
After bogeying No. 11, he found the water, not shrubbery, on No. 12 and wound up with a double bogey. The day's misery ended with bogeys at Nos. 16 and 18.
“It's disappointing,” Mickelson said. “There is a fine line between wanting it so bad and letting it happen. As you get older you feel a little more pressure each one because you don't feel you have an unlimited number of events.
“Given how well I was playing coming in, I certainly put a lot of pressure on myself to perform
this week and get it. I know the opportunities are lessening. Especially as well as I've been playing, I thought this was a great year, a great opportunity.”
Woods survives cut with a 75
He left his last putt off the left edge at No. 18 but it didn't matter. With a closing par, Tiger Woods made the cut at the 82nd Masters on Friday.
His 3-over 75 in the second round got him into the weekend by two strokes. The last and only time he missed the cut came in 1996, the last year he competed as an amateur.
The day was not without one calamity. On the par-4 fifth hole, he drove into trees on the right and then sent a recovery shot into the brush and bamboo stand behind the green. After taking an unplayable lie drop, he hit into a bunker and wound up with a doublebogey 6.
But he played the rest of the round at even par, even after finding Rae's Creek off the tee at No. 12. The round marked his ninth consecutive overpar round in a major championship.
He is also 13 shots off the lead, which didn't seem to matter.
“Six months ago, I didn't know if I'd be playing golf,” Woods said. “Forget playing at the (PGA) Tour level. I didn't know if I'd ever play again.
”But it's incredible to have the opportunity again, to still come out here and play this golf course. Now I know I'm on the weekend. Even though I'm a lot behind, if I play a special weekend — shoot two rounds in the mid-60s — you never know.”