THE EURO STARS ARE SHINING
The spirit of Seve lives on as Rose battles with Garcia DEREK LAWRENSON
THE fabled back nine at the 81st Masters unfolded yesterday with a truly compelling scenario as two European heavyweights slugged it out in pursuit of the fabled green jacket.
From England, there was Justin Rose, trying to add another magical colour to the Olympic gold medal he won last August. From Spain there was renaissance man Sergio Garcia, hoping to gather inspiration from a moving tweet sent by Seve Ballesteros’s son, Javier.
There were others who still retained a hope, including South African Charl Schwartzel, American Rickie Fowler and the brilliant Belgian rookie Thomas Pieters. Matt Kuchar holed in one at the 16th hole on his way to a 67 to set the clubhouse target on five under.
But it was the two gilded Euros who had clear daylight between themselves and everyone else as they headed towards the most excitingly scary nine holes in the game.
What an afternoon we were enjoying, played out under cloudless skies and blissfully warm temperatures, as Rory McIlroy played well but not the spectacularly well he needed as he carded a 69.
There were shocks as well and none bigger than the abject failure of Jordan Spieth, whose miserable afternoon was rendered complete when he found the water at the par-three 12th yet again.
The final group out on to the course was Rose and Garcia. The former was in this position two years ago, when he played well but lost out to some inspired play from Spieth. Garcia could draw comfort from Javier Ballesteros, who tweeted movingly: ‘Happy 60th birthday dad! Miss you every day. I’m sure you will be pushing for Sergio today.’
Garcia’s response was to play the first six holes in two under par to establish a three shot lead. All that prodigious ball-striking of which he is capable was on show but he knew it was nothing more than a good start.
Not with his history in the majors. Not with Rose standing by his side. On the difficult sixth, the 36-year-old, seeking his second major after his 2013 US Open triumph, holed a gutsy 10ft birdie putt to cut the lead to two. He birdied the 7th as well and then the 8th to draw level. It was all boiling up nicely.
At the tenth we had the first mistake from Garcia, who missed the green to the right and ran up a bogey. Trust Rose to take advantage, chipping and putting for a gutsy par. He was in front for the first time and extended his lead with another Garcia bogey at the 11th. That was how it remained with six to play, with Rose on eight under, Garcia on six, and Pieters and Schwartzel alongside Kuchar on five and running out of holes.
Another Englishman, Paul Casey, threatened to get into the mix when he played the front nine in just 32 shots but there was little such magic on the back nine. He bogeyed the 11th and also the 14th. A top six finisher in the previous two years, he was looking for something similar after a birdie at the 15th.
On the same mark was McIlroy. He needed some early heroics simply to rescue a par at the first and he duly got the birdie on offer at the second. But the fourth hole, the one that cost him a ton of shots last year, troubled him once more, as his momentum was quickly halted with a bogey.
A run of pars followed before McIlroy got back into red figures for the tournament with a birdie at the 8th. McIlroy birdied the 13th hole as well. Playing with Kuchar, he birdied the 16th, meaning the pair had completed the par three in just three shots between them.
A par at the last and he had his third top ten finish in a row in this event.
But, judged by his own high standards, this was another Sunday at Augusta in his pursuit of the career Grand Slam where he had not been in contention. It’s been the same every year since he lost a four-shot last-round lead in 2011.
Behind Rose and Garcia, Spieth and Fowler had been expected to challenge hard but, if anything, they dragged each other down. Neither is in the same league as the two Euros in terms of ball striking and it showed.
Fowler was two over after 12 and five off the pace. As for Spieth, that amazing record from his first three Masters appearances — 2-1-2 — was not going to be maintained.
For England’s old stalwart, the first priority for Lee Westwood was to ensure a top-12 finish to make sure he’s in the field next year. Forty-four later this month, he began just inside the top ten and was holding on to that position over the front nine, after reaching the turn in 35 blows. But he fell away badly on the back nine, dropping three shots as he came to the 17th.
It was looking like he will need to find another way of getting here if he is to maintain his proud record at Augusta next year.
As ever on the final day, there were a number of highly-accessible pin positions that offered the prospect of birdies and eagles for those able to pull off near-perfect shots.
We saw one early on at the fifth, where American Russell Henley slam-dunked his second shot into the hole for an eagle two.
It looked pretty on his scorecard, which was more than could be said for the hole, which was badly damaged by the impact. After surveying it, the green jackets decided it would need to be re-cut on the same spot, and so a number of greens staff repaired it quickly.
It was a bit like watching a team of mechanics changing the tyres on an F1 car, with all eyes on the greens staff to see if they could pull it off without holding up play. They did.