Familiar feel for final
Spieth charges back into contention, trailing leaders Rose and Garcia by a pair
AUGUSTA, Ga. – There are quite a few certainties at the Masters – Amen Corner, green jackets, fast greens, pimento cheese sandwiches.
And Jordan Spieth running roughshod all over the place.
For the fourth consecutive gathering at Augusta National Golf Club, the young lad from the Lone Star State became a permanent fixture on the famous white scoreboards. With a 4-under-par 68 on a sun-drenched Saturday in the 81st edition of the Masters, the 2015 Masters champion made his daunting presence known and moved onto the first page of the leaderboard.
Spieth, who squandered a five-shot lead with nine holes to play last year, will start Masters Sunday two behind joint leaders Justin Rose (67) and Sergio Garcia (70) and one behind Rickie Fowler (71).
Sharing fourth with Spieth are Ryan Moore (69) and Charley Hoffman (72). At 3 under is 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott (69) and at 2 under is 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.
While Spieth’s name isn’t at the top of the leaderboard, it is the most imposing name. He’s playing in his fourth Masters and won in 2015 and was runner-up in 2014 and 2016. He’s moved from 10 shots back after 18 holes to 2 behind. And he wasn’t just whistling Dixie when he said after missing the cut last week in the Shell Houston Open that “we strike fear in others (at the Masters).”
“After the first round, I couldn’t ask for much better than this,” said Spieth, who has improved each day with rounds of 75-69-68. “We fought back tremendously to have a chance to win this tournament, and no matter what happens at the end, we will have a chance to win with a really good round tomorrow. I plan to play aggressive because at this point, it’s win or go home.”
Rose had the low round on Saturday. The 2013 U.S. Open champion and European Ryder Cup hero could have shot the low round each of the first two days but his game just wouldn’t fire on all cylinders. In the third round, everything clicked, especially on the back nine when he made five birdies in his last seven holes.
“I knew I needed to get going for sure. But I had confidence that I would have my run. I felt like I played really well all week,” said Rose, who finished runner-up to Spieth in 2015. “I felt like after the first couple of rounds, I could have significantly lower than my score was but I’ve been very patient with that. I’ve kind of known that I’ve been playing well and been thinking well and making good decisions.
“And then today I began to feel very comfortable on the greens. Things began to click and I had my run. So I trusted in that fact. I set sort of a positive goal going forward to start making some birdies.”
Fowler is looking for his first major title. After he finished in the top 5 in all four majors in 2015, including runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open and British Open, he’s missed three cuts and recorded four finishes of 30th or worse in eight majors since.
“This is by far the best I’ve felt in a major,” said Fowler, who did win the 2015 Players Championship. “It’s going to be a good time. It’s something where I’ve continued to feel more and more comfortable here at Augusta and I feel like that really started maybe three or four years ago. But this is definitely a different position now.”
Garcia also is hoping to win his first major and end his futility in the game’s four biggest tournaments. He is 0-for-73 in majors.
“Having a chance of winning a major and winning here at Augusta, it is extra exciting,” Garcia said. “So you do have to calm yourself down, not get ahead of yourself. Take some nice, deep breaths. And then, you know, just try to cope with whatever comes your way the best way possible. I think that at the end of the day, that’s really the only thing you can do.”
No Masters winner has ever made a triple bogey the year he won the green jacket. Spieth is trying to become the only one to win the Masters with a quadruple-bogey.
His ghastly “other” came in Thursday’s first round when he made a 9 on the par-5 15th. In Saturday’s third round, he made a tap-in 4.
Spieth bounced back from that disaster, especially in Friday’s second round. He knew he had to go low to get back in the tournament, knew he had to put up some numbers. He accomplished both and his intensity level sparked.
“Yesterday’s round was huge, and it was bigger than today’s in my opinion, because it gave me that chance,” Spieth said.
“I went to bed with my heart pumping faster last night because of yesterday’s round than I probably will tonight. I already knew I had a chance and we did what we needed to do today. And now obviously we just need one more day of it and probably a couple breaks to go our way.”
Spieth played in the final group on Sunday the last three years. He will play with Fowler in the second-to-last group this Sunday. His experience playing under all the pressure will help him.
“I know that anything can happen,” Spieth said, smiling at his misfortune of last year’s quadruple bogey 7 on the 12th hole. “If somebody gets hot on the front nine tomorrow that’s not myself, I’ll know to stay in there, stay patient, you just never know. It’s tough protecting a lead on this golf course, because it’s one where you need to play aggressive to win.
“And protecting the lead, you don’t want to play aggressive. And if I am able to jump out into the lead, I know that you have to keep the gas pedal down and pretend you’re not.”