By Will Pearson, europeantour.com
at Augusta National
Following an enthralling Moving Day at the iconic Augusta National, europeantour.com picked out six talking points from the third round of the 2015 Masters Tournament.
1. Fortune favours the brave
Jordan Spieth has displayed few signs of weakness over a stellar first three rounds at this year’s Masters, and his talent and aggressive play has also been rewarded by a few gentle touches from Lady Luck.
Take the sixth for example. Facing a tricky two-putt for par at the par three, the young Texan bowled in a 25-footer for birdie. Take the ninth. A tasty, highly helpful bounce on his approach which led to birdie.
But, as they say, the best make their own luck. Spieth got up and down for par on ten, played Amen Corner in two under par, bounced back from a three-putt bogey at the 14th with consecutive, calculated birdies and, most impressively, after a body blow double bogey at the 17th – his first really bad hole of the week – he took stock and made a stunning up and down for par at the last.
Fortune? What fortune.
As good as he has been, there will inevitably be talk of lost Masters leads, of Greg Norman, of Rory McIlroy, and with four Major winners queuing up behind, vulture-like, Sunday will be a serious test of Spieth’s mettle.
"I just need to focus on myself tomorrow,” said the 21 year old, old beyond his tender years. “I'm not thinking about it yet, but I've certainly dreamed about winning the Masters before. I'd like to have three putts on the final green tomorrow. In fact, four putts. I'd like to be a Major Champion."
2. Justin Rose is the comeback king
Two days running now, Justin Rose has started slowly. Rose was three over par through the first four holes yesterday before four birdies on the back nine helped the Englishman home in 33 for a rollercoaster round of 70, and Moving Day produced much the same.
The 2013 US Open Champion was two over par through six holes on Saturday before seven stunning birdies in his last 12 holes – including a run of four on the spin from the 13th and a crucial 20-footer on the last – sealed a homeward 31, a superb joint best-of-the-day 67 and a place in the final group on Masters Sunday.
“That’s something dreams are made of,” he reflected.
Three over par over the first four holes and 15 under for the next 14 so far this week, Rose will be hoping to address those shaky starts, draw on that Major-winning experience and get close enough to Spieth on Sunday so he can see the whites of his eyes.
3. Tiger Woods is back (maybe)
As is often the case with genii and their respective trades, there can be a tendency to lurch from the sublime to the ridiculous. Such was the case for Tiger Woods in his enthralling third round 68.
There were touches of brilliance, moments of madness and exhibitions of Seve-esque scrambling as the former World Number One and four-time Masters champion made an entertaining, captivating move up the leaderboard on Saturday.
Take those three sublime birdies in a row at the start of his third round en route to a vintage front nine 32. After a regulation gain at the par five second, Woods converted a quite wonderful wedge approach to two feet at the short par four third and then very nearly made what would have been just the second hole in one ever seen in the Masters on the 240-yard par three fourth, 'Flowering Crab Apple'. Just ten inches separated Woods from Jeff Sluman's unique 1992 achievement.
And then to the ridiculous. Woods snap-hooked his drive 176 yards into the azaleas down the left of the par five 13th - cue the driver dropping, the histrionics. After chopping out back onto the fairway, the American hit his approach to 15 feet and knocked that in for a remarkable, crazy birdie.
Cue the spine-tingling Tiger fist pumps of old.
4. Rookie Bernd Wiesberger has Major pedigree
Austria’s first representative in 81 years of the Masters, Bernd Wiesberger’s star is shining bright on his debut at Augusta National.
Wiesberger finished tied 15th at the 2014 US PGA Championship in what was just his sixth appearance in a Major and is once again going well in one the game’s biggest four events.
One of five European Tour rookies in the field this week and currently the highest placed of four to make the cut, the 29 year old opened up with a shaky 75 but has been supremely solid ever since, carding back-to-back rounds of 70 in the subsequent 36 holes featuring just 52 putts on Augusta’s glass-like greens.
Tied 25th going into the final round and with a Sunday date with defending champion Bubba Watson to come, you get the feeling big Bernd is enjoying his first jaunt around awesome Augusta.
5. Ian Poulter on his day is as a match for anyone
Okay, so we knew this already from all those glorious Ryder Cup exploits down the years but today’s third round from Ian Poulter was a brilliant exhibition of golf – and it could have been even better.
The Englishman is winless since 2012 but there have been signs in recent times that Poulter has been getting back to his imperious best – not least a tied third finish at the Honda Classic on the US PGA Tour five weeks ago. On a sun-bleached Saturday in Georgia, the 39 year old hit 11 out of 14 fairways, 17 Greens in Regulation and, despite taking a surprising 30 putts, carded a joint best-of-the-day 67.
Playing partner and 2016 Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke said of Poulter’s performance: “It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play - it was 67 but could’ve easily been 63." While the man himself described it with simple efficiency as “probably the best round of golf I’ve ever played at Augusta”.
As for that curious 30 number, Poulter added: "The putter needs to warm up. I used the same putter grip for about nine years of my career and went away from that about two years ago. I’ve got a feeling the old one might be on for next week. I can’t wait to throw this one in the bin.”
6. The 11th at Augusta is one of the best par fours in golf
Known across the golfing world as the gates to Augusta’s fabled Amen Corner triumvirate, the par four 11th is a special, fiendishly difficult hole.
Perhaps best remembered for Larry Mize’s incredible holed chip shot to defeat Greg Norman in the 1987 play-off, ‘White Dogwood’ started out life in 1934 as a 400-yard par four but has grown to 505 yards.
With Amen Corner’s notorious swirling wind a factor, the tee shot plays downhill and left to right so a fade is required to hit the short stuff, but it is on the approach shot where the nerves start a-twitching. Downhill, anywhere between a rescue and an eight iron with water on the left and a gaping bunker on the right, it’s no wonder that the 11th has ranked second only to the tenth historically as the most difficult hole at Augusta National.
“It’s intimidating, that’s for sure,” said Stenson of the approach shot. “You don’t want to go left, or too far right. The crowds are always massive down there, too.”
So far this week, the 11th is ranking the hardest hole on the course at an average of 4.37 having yielded only 16 birdies over the first three rounds. Charley Hoffman got one of those coveted threes on Saturday to help stay inside the top five, while even Mickelson’s renowned short game failed him there after missing the green to the right, and he departed White Dogwood with bogey.
Peril aplenty and, for those brave (and lucky) enough, the odd bit of plunder.
