The fall is forgotten. He knows the course well enough now after seven appearances in the Masters.
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We’ll see what mother nature does for day one of the Masters.
“Hopefully I’ll be a more consistent putter with this short putter than ever before”, he said.
“I’d be lying if I said those guys having success doesn’t motivate me”, McIlroy said Tuesday.
So rewind the tape from every Masters since 2003, when the bantamweight from Sarnia, Ont., sent a jolt through Canada, defying long odds to win the green jacket on a notorious slugger’s course.
Only now they have company. “I haven’t been in a situation where I’ve felt the pressure of it, really, because I didn’t have a real chance to win a year ago”.
But it won’t start for him until quite late. His naysayers are pointing to his recent struggles on the green, and a new putting grip he’s still getting used to, suggesting the world number three is in no fit shape to tackle the notoriously tricky greens of Augusta National.
He added: “I think it’s the third year in a row I’ve been off last either Thursday or Friday here so I was sort of expecting it”. “For me to get to this point, I’m already ahead of the game”. I can’t get lazy, because I’ve got to understand that what I’m doing is working.
He drives the ball as well as anybody in the game, he naturally moves the ball from right-to-left and his ball striking is too good for him not to be in contention.
However, with the rise of Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, that it’s not going to get any easier to win a green jacket and become the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam. It’s the second time in three years for Tiger.
As soon as you walk on the grounds, you’re greeted by police dogs, then patrons go through a metal detector. “One of these days I will get it done”.
A year ago, Spieth had a victory and two runner-up finishes when he arrived at Augusta National.
Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els all won majors in their 40s, but Scott added: ” But they’re the greatest players of that era. He hasn’t won, has only two top-three finishes and missed the cut six times. Jackie was 24 and was on Nicklaus’ bag for that unexpected 1986 Masters win that crowned the Golden Bear’s career. “The way that Arnold Palmer started the next generation and that generation started the next generation, and then finally Tiger Woods started our generation”.
Wanting a thing too much is very real in golf.
Stenson believes Augusta National suits him well, even though he has yet to record a top 10 in the Masters.
“But look, I’m in the Masters field, and they can put me off at 6 o’clock in the evening and I’ll still get around and play, so I’ll be alright”, he said.
He also tried to take a more competitive approach, replicating a match-play format his first time around the course, the 3-and-2 victory over Chris Wood clinched by a hole-in-one at the 16th.
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In his first major, last year’s US Open at Chambers Bay, Smith eagled the final hole to guarantee his place at Augusta.
