GALLACHER IN THE HUNT
Scot boosts British bid as he keeps his Ryder dream alive
AFTER the calamities t hat befell s ome higher-profile competitors on day one of the Masters, it was left to Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher to spearhead the UK challenge on the second morning at Augusta.
For early starters like Luke Donald and Justin Rose, the first task was to make inroads so they were still in the tournament come the weekend.
Gallacher, following a fine 71 on his Masters debut on Thursday, was looking for the sort of level-par score that would keep him on the leaderboard heading i nto the business half of the tournament.
And that’s just what he ended up recording to earn himself a spot in the top 10, j ust two shots off Dane Thomas Bjorn (below) — highlighted by Sportsmail as an outstanding 200-1 bet on the eve of the event — who added a wonderful 68 to his opening 73, but six behind runaway leader Bubba Watson after the American shot his own 68 to add to yesterday’s 69.
This is a huge event in itself for Gallacher, who is experiencing the aura of this place for the first time at the age of 40.
But it’s a massive tournament in the bigger picture as well, as the quiet man from Bathgate looks to close in on his main goal for the season — a spot in Europe’s team for a Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, just 30 minutes from his home.
Right now, he is clinging to the ninth and last automatic selection slot. A good tournament here, and he could put clear daylight between himself and the rest, not to mention impress Europe’s captain Paul McGinley, who is here keeping a hawk’s eye on proceedings.
‘The wind is a bit up and the greens are firming up so I’m delighted with par,’ said Gallacher. ‘I probably could have gone lower but I got away with a few things. But that’s the course — if you get out of position, a bogey is good.’ ’
By Gallacher’s side was Northern rn Irishman Darren Clarke, playing g in his 500th event on the European Tour’s increasingly international schedule.
Here we had two of the best ball-strikers walking the fairways together on another peachy morning in the Deep South.
Any hopes the green jackets s would go easy on the 97-man field ld after only four players broke 70 on the firs t day were swiftly dispelled. Few of the early starters were able to make significant gains and so Rory McIlroy’s analogy on day one — that it was all like a game of chess — rang true as players made their moves hoping to avoid big scores and succumb to a golfing checkmate. There was much to enjoy i n the
way this pair displayed their craft. At the third, Gallacher left himself in a tricky spot just off the green but ‘bladed’ an exquisite wedge shot to inches from the hole.
At the fifth, Clarke showed similar imagination as he used a ledge some 20 feet behind the pin as a backboard and the ball came back adjacent to the hole. The bond the pair clearly have was demonstrated at the short sixth.
You need a spot of good fortune when the test is this hard and Gallacher got it with a holed 40-foot birdie putt. Clarke was so pleased you would have thought he had sunk the putt himself.
Augusta took it back at the next, mind, where Gallacher’s approach plugged in a greenside bunker.
What was impressive was the manner in which he kept bouncing back from bogeys.
It happened at the sixth after a dropped shot at the fourth, again at the eighth following a five at the par-four seventh, and also at the 12th, where he registered his second two of the round after a bogey at the 11th.
So it continued as a rare moment of poor course management at the par-five 13th, resulting in a six, was followed by a birdie at the 15th.
It all added up to the level-par round of 72. As Gallacher finished, the leaderboard showed him just outside the top 10. In reality, though, he was likely to find himself well inside it by the close of play, as few of those ahead of him had even started their second rounds.
Out on the course, Florida lefthander Watson was compiling another beautifully-crafted round in his bid for a second Masters title in three years, finishing four ahead of early second- round leader Bjorn to set the clubhouse target on seven-under par.
Watson had five birdies in a row from the 12th, before a bogey on the 18th, only his second dropped shot of the week.
Clarke, meanwhile, is here on the strength of gaining a five-year exemption for his 2011 Open win but his desperate struggles since have been well chronicled. It looked as if it would be more of the same when he fell three over par after a seven on day one, but he bounced back for a respectable 74.
An early birdie was a bonus but thereafter a steady stream of bogeys drifted him towards the projected halfway cut.
Thankfully, he dug in manfully. One of the features of his play was the improvement in his putting and it continued as he rapped home a closing birdie. At four over, it appeared that his 500th event would end in him playing all four days at Augusta.
What of the struggling English? Lee Westwood remains in the mix after following yesterday’s 73 with a 71. Likewise Rose, who shot 76 on day one and improved with a 70 yesterday.
After opening with a 79, Donald showed the pride of a former world No 1, fighting back with a 70 of his own yesterday to give himself at least a fighting chance of making the halfway cut.