I had a lot of fun playing with him. And right now, the odds are with the golf course.
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And their first weekend outing together at any major drew a huge crowd at Augusta National on a blustery day of high scoring.
“These greens, as fast as they are, and some of the pin placements, every three-footer is a real challenge”, said Matt Kuchar, who “stole” a round of even-par 72. “It’s a nerve-wracking proposition”.
Kaufman, a 24-year-old from Birmingham, Ala., is in his first year on the PGA Tour and qualified for the Masters by winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his second event.
For the third day in a row, Augusta’s average score went up, settling at 75.719, nearly 4 over par. But I’m just, as I said, I’m feeling a little better standing here five behind than I was on the 17th tee.
The average window of opportunity for most players, even the very good ones, to win on the Champions Tour is four or five years.
LAUGH A MINUTE: Player after player came off the golf course Saturday looking and talking as if they’d just gone 12 rounds with the champ. “I’m a bit disappointed right now, fresh off the round. It doesn’t surprise me”.
The talk entering Saturday’s third round was headlined by the final pairing of Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
“But the guys on two and three over like myself feel we have a chance now”. He bogeyed Nos. 3 and 7 on the front, then dropped another stroke at 10. Both cut frustrated figures at various points of the round and both carded double bogeys on the 11th hole of their third round of the 2016 Masters. His 3 under had become a 2 over, and he did well to stay there.
Maybe for awhile. Langer is a remarkable story.
On the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus becoming the oldest Masters champion at 46, Langer is two shots behind in his quest to become the oldest major champion by 10 years. The steely German with the long putter – not anchored – drained his sixth birdie of the day on No. 15 and hopped into second place. Yet, as if to defy logic, Langer – a two-time Masters champion whose second win came in 1993 – relied on his short game mastery to produce a 70 for 215 that left him only two adrift of Spieth going into the final round.
World No. 1 Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett, all deemed afterthoughts before Spieth’s late hiccups, are just three shots back at even par.
The only other players who remained under par were Hideki Matsuyama (72), Brandt Snedeker (72) and Soren Kjeldsen (74). But it wasn’t Home Run Derby, it was golf.
“I believe I can”, he said.
“It would add a lot of excitement and buzz and atmosphere to the tournament, obviously”, McIlroy said. And they can stop the ball, while mine sometimes release.
Asked how he would be able to put behind him the poor finish to the round, he replied: “I think it will be tough personally”. I don’t like the left-to-right wind there, and I thought it was going to move the ball to the right, and I closed my clubface.
But it was hard for Spieth to keep any of that in perspective with the disappointment he felt. It wasn’t pretty, but there was context to consider. Spieth ultimately shot a 1-over 73 to finish the third round at 3 under, one shot ahead of Smylie Kaufman.
Spieth extended his Masters record by leading for the seventh straight round. “And I’m going to have to do that again tomorrow because it’s going to be windy out there again”.
“I mean honestly, I think it will be tough to put it behind”.
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The best players in the game were tested to the full for the first three rounds in gusts of up to 35 miles per hour (56 kph) on an already challenging layout, but Sunday’s forecast called for light breezes.
