AUGUSTA DIARY

LEISHMAN PULLS OUT

MASTERS Wednesday began on a sombre note when Australian Marc Leishman (right), who was so close to victory in 2013 before finishing tied fourth behind countryman Adam Scott, had to withdraw. His wife Audrey spent part of last week in an induced coma owing to a serious infection.

WOMEN STILL WAITING

MASTERS chairman Billy Payne yesterday ruled out any idea of starting a women’s version, blaming the ‘very short member season at Augusta National of seven months’.

ARNOLD IS 1D FAN

FAVOURITE pic of the week so far? It might just be Arnold Palmer (right), clad in his green jacket, snapped under the Oak Tree in front of the clubhouse alongside Niall Horan (far right), the keen golf-playing member of One Direction acting as Rory McIlroy’s par-three caddie. Talk about a game that spans the generations.

BANAL BUBBA

MR UNPOPULAR Bubba Watson won’t have upset anyone with his choice of menu for the Champions Dinner on Tuesday. He stuck with the same inoffensive dishes he offered two years ago: Caesar salad followed by grilled chicken breast with green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and cornbread.

ROAD TO AN UPGRADE

IT’S well known the surroundings outside Augusta National contrast markedly with the beauty within.

But after buying up the houses on the adjacent Berckmans Road, Masters chairman Billy Payne (left) promises a ‘beautification’ project. ‘As you know, we’re pretty good at landscaping,’ he said.

WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT?

THE Eisenhower Tree on the 17th hole, named after the President who kept hitting it, was lost after a storm last year but a cross-section is on show in the press building this week.