OLD GUARD PUT UP A FIGHT
Woods and Els battle to stay in touch as young Texan shoots lights out
TEXAS golfers have a long and proud history of coming up with prodigious feats that stun the sporting world. Byron Nelson once won 11 events in a row on the PGA Tour in 1945. Ben Hogan won three major championships in succession in 1953 and probably would have won the fourth as well but for the fact The Open clashed that year with the USPGA.
Now here comes Jordan Spieth, just 21 and turning the 79th Masters into a ‘ hello, world’ moment with an awesome demonstration of dominance the like of which we haven’t seen since another 21-year-old, Tiger Woods, walked away with the 1997 edition.
Following one stunning round with another happens about as often at Augusta as pieces of litter drifting across the property.
The youngest first-round leader in Masters history followed his 64 with a 66 to set a new 36-hole record total of 14 under par, beating the old mark of 13 under set by Ray Floyd way back in 1974.
His lead midway through the afternoon was five over fellow American Charley Hoffman and nine over Ernie Els. Tiger shot 69, his first round in the 60s in a major for 15 rounds and yet still fell further off the lead.
There was much to enjoy in the way those once-great rivals Woods and Els tried tooth and nail to prove their relevance, but Spieth was not so much putting them in the shade as pummelling them into submission.
Woods is no fewer than 11 strokes behind.
‘ What he’s doing is making major champions going out this afternoon change their strategy,’ said former world No 1 David Duval, on American television. Their number included Rory McIlroy, who played early on like a man thoroughly deflated. The world No 1 was two over par after seven, fully 15 shots behind Spieth.
English contenders Paul Casey and Justin Rose were hanging in well enough. Both were five under for the event, with the back nine to play for Casey and the last six for Rose.
All this on the day another Lone Star legend, Ben Crenshaw, waved goodbye to the Masters.
It’s tempting to talk about a passing of the Texas torch, except Spieth is destined for a level of greatness twice Masters champion Crenshaw could only dream about. Think Hogan rather than Gentle Ben.
As for Tiger, his first-round 73 was actually an awful lot better than his score and the reviews suggested.
It was, in fact, the most encouraging sign we’ve seen from him for well over a year. His short game was back to its best and his task yesterday was to instil some rhythm in his long game. That is exactly what happened.
The rare sight of him finding the first fairway was encouraging and even better was the laser iron that followed. It finished 10ft away and the birdie putt found the middle of the hole. For 15 minutes, it was like watching Tiger back to his best.
The rest of the round was also heartening.
He reached the turn in 34 to be one under for the event and inside the top 20. A birdie at the 11th and he was on the fringes of the top 10. His three-under total was his first round in the 60s here since 2011.
As for Els, he was trying to build on the small miracle of his opening 67. The South African finished eighth on his Augusta National debut in 1994. Two months later, at the age of 25, he beat Colin Montgomerie in a play- off to claim the US Open. Everyone looked at his languid grace off the tee and gossamer touch around the greens and wondered how many green jackets he would win.
Twenty years on, he’s still waiting for his first. As cautionary tales go for those who wonder how many McIlroy will win, this one’s a Georgia peach. For five straight years between 2000 and 2004 Els finished, in order: 2, T6, T5, T6, 2. The last one was truly a stiletto to the heart.
In the final round Els played beautifully. How often does a man begin the last day of the Masters just one shot off the lead, shoot 67 and not win? Only once, is the answer. This one.
For 10 years Phil Mickelson (below left) had been cocking up royally when it came to the last day of major championships. This one he birdied five of his last seven holes, including a drained 20ft putt on the 18th hole, to win by one. Els was never the same at the Masters after that.
As honest as they come, he admitted: ‘ There was definitely something going on after that. I was trying to wipe it under the carpet that I wanted to win the Masters so badly for so many years. ‘ I got fed up with myself. Never fed up with Augusta, but with yourself for the mistakes that you make.’
Now he’s back, with a smile spreading across his features at last. Els came here with no form but plenty of birdies to sustain him from his last two starts. He managed 21 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and 20 at the Houston Open last week. He’s kept up that ratio here but cut out many of the bogeys.
Els made a good start to his second round with a solid par at the difficult opening hole before chipping expertly to tap-in range for a birdie at the second.
How would his putting, so frail in recent years, hold up?
It didn’t look good when he started frittering away shots but the par fives rescued him on this day. He birdied all of them to salvage a 72.
Depending on your viewpoint, five under par for the event left him right in the hunt for his third runner-up finish at the Masters; or right where he needs to be should Spieth start suddenly feeling the pressure over the weekend.
FOR ALL BREAKING SPORTS NEWS VISIT dailymail.co.uk/ sport