The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Laird’s bid at Masters not helped by putter
Martin Laird’s frustrations on the Augusta greens continued as the Scot rued so many missed birdie chances over the final two days at the Masters.
The 38-year-old from Glasgow, in his first Masters since 2013, shot a par round of 72 on Saturday but had five or six birdie chances between eight and 15 feet and missed them all.
The same was true of his Sunday 74.
Tee to green the Scot was as good as anyone in the field, but he couldn’t buy a putt when he needed one.
“That was really as good as I’ve hit my irons in a long time,” he said. “All I needed was a nice day with the putter.”
Laird, who qualified for a return to Augusta by winning the Shriners’ tournament in Las Vegas last October, was within sight of his best ever Masters finish of 20th, which he achieved on his debut there in 2011.
A birdie at the second, from off the back of the green in two chipping to four feet and making the putt, was an ideal start and he saw a 27-footer come up just half a roll short on the third.
A 17-foot chance wouldn’t break right at the fourth, and there followed two bogeys at the sixth and seventh, both caused by going in too long and failing to get up and down from the back of the green.
Having missed the chance at the long eighth, Laird slipped further back with back-to-back bogeys at 10 and 11, missing par putts of nine feet and five feet.
He got those strokes back at 12 and 13, finally holing a mid-range putt of 12 feet for his two at the 12th.
Two fine strikes had him just 13 feet away in two at the 13th, but the eagle putt stayed out and he had to settle for birdie.
The frustrations with the putter continued on the way in, birdie chances on four successive holes but he missed from 12 feet on 14, nine feet on 15, 25 feet on 16 and 12 feet on 17.
A wayward drive at the last cost him another shot and meant a two-over 74, which looked good enough for a spot inside the top 40.
Scotland’s new young hope Robert MacIntyre was rescuing a tough front nine and still within a shot of a top 10 in his debut at Augusta.
The 24-year-old from Oban had a rough start by bunkering his approach at the first and couldn’t get up and down, and then missed the chance for a restorative birdie at the long second hole when he again found the white sand, this time with his drive.
The big wobble came at the short sixth, where he was too long with his tee shot and had a tricky pitch off a downhill lie.
He made it up to six feet but blew the par putt five feet by and the return lipped out at right angles for a double bogey.
MacIntyre then bunkered his approach at the seventh, but he got up and down for a relieving par, judging the slopes with his shot from the sand to perfection.
That raised morale and so did two fine strikes and two putts from 80 feet at the long eighth, which got him back to par for the tournament.
The young lefty was back in his stride now, and hit his second at the ninth to three feet for a second successive birdie, to get to one-under with the scoreable back nine still ahead of him.
A 20-foot par putt at 11 kept the momentum going before he hit the homeward stretch.