Record slate of South Africans for US Masters

But fat chance for rookies Grace and Coetzee if past is anything to go by

A RECORD eight South Africans will tee it up at the 77th Masters starting at Augusta tomorrow, but for debutants George Coetzee and Branden Grace, history is stacked against them.

As a rule, rookies at the season’s first Major, the only one to be played at the same venue every year, do not win the coveted green jacket.

Only three first-timers in the history of the tournament have won — Horton Smith in 1934 (it was the first Masters tournament so all the players were rookies), Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

When Sarazen won at his first attempt, the “experienced“members of the field, including 1934 winner Smith, had only participated in a single Masters tournament. Zoeller’s win stands out because he won against a field of experienced Masters winners and participants.

But since there has not been a rookie winner in 33 years — and to understand how much the experience of the conditions and nuances of the lightning fast greens counts, consider that current world No 1 and four-time Masters winner Tiger Woods won his first green jacket at his third attempt.

Jack Nicklaus, who has six green jackets, won his first at his fifth attempt, while three-time winners Gary Player and Phil Mickelson needed five and 12 appearances respectively before winning for the first time.

But too much experience and the associated accumulation of mental scarring can be just as much of a hindrance as inexperience. South Africa’s Ernie Els played 18 consecutive Masters’ tournaments between 1993-2011 and has two second places to show for it.

Considering that experts from Player to Nicklaus declared early in Els’s career that Augusta was made for his game, the Big Easy’s continued winless streak at Augusta is a mystery. And it’s a gap on his CV that he desperately wants to fill before his competitive years are gone.

But for Coetzee and Grace, this year’s tournament should be a steep learning curve without the pressure of expectation to do well.

They will place pressure on themselves, but should one or both be in contention on Sunday, they will have the underdog status working in their favour.

Grace has not been in the best touch this season, but in golf that does not necessarily mean he cannot suddenly find form. Last week Scotsman Martin Laird won the Texas Open after a season in which he had missed five cuts and had not placed in the top 30 at any tournament.

Coetzee has yet to win a tournament on the European Tour, where he regularly campaigns, but has picked up four top 10s, including second at the Qatar Masters earlier this year, although his recent form has been mediocre.

Grace is winless this season after four titles last year, but he also picked up three top 10s in early tournaments this year. He has since missed two cuts on the US PGA Tour at the Houston Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

At Augusta yesterday, both played a practice round with Player and no doubt they would have picked his brain for insights to the course.

Knowing where to miss, where to land drives and which side of the greens to putt from is vital knowledge gained by experience of the layout. Player’s input will fast-track that knowledge for both rookies, although come tomorrow it will be up to them to learn quickly.

The Masters traditionally gets under way with a par-3 tournament that is held a day before the first round of the actual competition.

Although it is a semisocial event, many of the Masters’ competitors play in it, viewing it as an ideal warmup for the actual competition.

However, over the years, a jinx seems to have befallen the par-3 tournament, as in the 53 years it has been held since being introduced in 1960, not a single player who won the competition has gone on to win the Masters in the same year.

Several have won the Masters and the par-3 competition, but never in the same year. Chip Beck (1993) and Raymond Floyd (1990) came close, but fell one short in the Masters and finished second.

Luke Donald was one of the favourites for the 2011 Masters and showed that he was on form by winning the par-3 tournament on the Wednesday, but had to settle for tied fourth in main competition. With Martin James