Jordan Spieth couldn’t bear to watch, so he turned his head before another shot splashed into Rae’s Creek.
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A grown man named Smylie, 24-year-old LSU alum Smylie Kaufman, had the best round of the day, a 3-under 69 that put him at 2-under overall and in the final pairing with Spieth today.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong).
Langer demonstrated at Augusta that he still has the ability to play golf.
This one would be even more remarkable.
The German, who could become the oldest champion in major golf history by a decade, birdied the par-5 13th, par-4 14th and par-5 15th at Augusta National to reach two-under for the tournament, three-under on the round in severely windy conditions.
The 2016 Masters is shaping up to feature a Sunday showdown between Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
England’s Danny Willett carded a third-round 72 to finish level par – three behind Spieth – while Westwood shot a 71 and is one over.
“Big picture? This one will hurt”, Spieth said.
Not quite, but he does have 25 victories since joining the 50-and-over tour in 2008. The eight-time-major victor played in an unbelievable 43 Masters and finished with rounds of 74-78.
“I mean, it wasn’t gusting that hard”, he said, “(and) it was in the flat spot”. But I’m just going to go out there and do my best.
Day, who won the last major to be contested at the PGA Championship last August, remained optimistic despite back pain concerns.
Worse was to follow on the tough final hole, driving into trouble on the right. Guys like Davis Love, Vijay Singh, Freddie Couples are all long enough to win the Masters. I’m not in that category but I try to make up for it in others and tomorrow I’m going to give it my best.
Hideki Matsuyama surged up the leaderboard at Augusta National, refusing to let gusts near 30 miles per hour throw him off his game.
The 58-year-old, a dominant force on the Champions Tour, belied his age with a stunning performance, highlighted by three birdies in a row to the 15th.
How fitting. Faldo also shot 67 that day in a final round remembered more for Greg Norman throwing away a six-shot lead. Day left his much-shorter approach shot 7 feet off the flag – and missed the putt.
“But at this time I’m still most comfortable by just not anchoring, because I’ve done this for 18, 19 years now. But so far, so good”. “I’ve been on the opposite end of that where things can start to get away from you”.
“He plods along, he knows his strengths and weaknesses”. I had a lot of fun playing with him.
“An opportunity to win the Masters, it’s awesome, what I worked for as a kid”, he told Sky Sports.
Spieth also double bogeyed the 11th, but hit back with birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th until his late slump.
Tom Watson was 59 when he lost in a playoff at the 2009 British Open, but that was on the links of Turnberry – a manageable layout for a senior still on his game.
The deliberate Spieth, who took 17 practice swings before one shot, has form for dawdling and was given a slow-play penalty at Abu Dhabi in January.
The slim and trim Langer has stayed fit. He doesn’t concede anything to the younger players.
Horschel got a little animated, shall we say, with the rules officials.
Langer leaves nothing to chance. Throughout his career, he has now played holes 10 through 12 in an aggregate of 26 over par.
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He is steady and persistent, a professor of the fairways, taking full advantage of the vast knowledge accumulated over 33 Masters appearances. Langer is a two-time victor of the Masters in 1985 and 1993.
