Augusta wind dips for tight final round
THE early starters in yesterday’s final round at Augusta National were greeted by the coldest temperatures of the week, but the calmest conditions as the 80th Masters looked poised for a pulsating finish.
When American Kevin Na teed off in the first pairing of the day with a noncompeting marker, the temperature hovered at around 9°C, but the strong swirling winds of the first three days were gone.
The best players in the game were tested to the full for the first three rounds in gusts of up to 56km/h on an already challenging layout, but yesterday’s forecast called for light breezes.
The defending champion Jordan Spieth, aiming to become just the fourth player in the game to claim back-to-back green jackets, held a one-shot lead after 54 holes and his quest to join three golfing greats was one of many compelling story lines bubbling on the deciding day of the year’s opening Major.
The 22-year-old Texan held the outright lead for a record seven consecutive rounds as he looked to join Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only men to defend their Masters titles.
German veteran and twice former champion Bernhard Langer, at 58, trailed Spieth by two strokes in his bid to become the oldest player yet to win a Major championship. American Julius Boros was a full decade younger when he won the 1968 PGA Championship at age 48.
Hideki Matsuyama, a 24-year-old playing in his fifth Masters, was also two shots off the pace as he strove to give Japan its first Major winner.
PGA Tour rookie Smylie Kaufman, one of only four players to break par on Saturday when he shot a best-of-the-day 69, was one stroke off the lead as he sought to become the fourth first-time participant to win the Masters.
Horton Smith won the inaugural edition in 1934, Gene Sarazen triumphed in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller claimed the 1979 title.