Euro hopes alive
augusta — Hopes of a first European winner at the Masters in 15 years were alive after Saturday’s third round with five players under par and within range of joint leaders Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson.
Leading the way is Swedish rookie Jonas Blixt, who has surprised many at Augusta National this week with the quality of his golf, and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, who has surprised many that he is still competitive at 50.But the real threat may come from further down the leaderboard in the shape of England’s Lee Westwood, who at 40 has played in 63 major tournaments and has yet to win one. That is the most of any active player, just one ahead of Jimenez and two ahead of Sergio Garcia.
Westwood, who was runnerup in the 2010 Masters and tied for third in 2012, moved up the leaderboard Saturday with a two under 70 that left him three strokes off the lead. Asked if he felt he had a realistic chance of finally bagging that elusive first major win, Westwood replied: “Oh, very much so, yeah. “Anywhere within five, even six shots of the lead going into the final round of the Masters is given a good chance, especially with the way the golf course is playing out here.
“Kind of on the knife edges of the greens. It’s getting faster and firmer.” —