There will be no 18-under par scores, no 64s, no barrage of under-par numbers by players you’ve never heard of.
The Masters Wind Machine cranked up on Friday and blew the field into submission, most limped home wind-blown and beaten by the difficulty of the Augusta National Golf Club.
When it was over, golf got a dream pairing for Saturday. Jordan Spieth struggled and kept his lead, barely. He’s four-under par after shooting 74 and a shot in front of Rory McIlroy, who followed his opening 70 with 71, the day’s best effort. McIlroy is three-under and will join Spieth in the final pairing that brings together Nos. two and three in the world rankings.
Spieth’s struggles to get the round over with were indicative of the type of day it was. Spieth got off to a roaring start and was eight-under par through four holes and five shots ahead at that time. It started to unravel when he four-putted the fifth hole for double-bogey.
“It was a mental test,” said Spieth, who cited the swirling winds and greens that got a bit crusty late in the day. Spieth found himself forced to hole a 12-foot par putt at the 18th to keep his one-shot lead over McIlroy. “At five it got really, really tough. At least we were able to par 18 and salvage it — stopped the bleeding,” said Spieth, who bogeyed 16 and 17 after making a nice birdie at the par five 15th to get back to even par for the day.
“A bit disappointed right now,” Spieth lamented. “The last three holes will do that to you.”
Still, he held the Masters lead for a sixth consecutive round but McIlroy is right there.
“It was very, very difficult,” said McIlroy, who played in the early morning wave. “It’s very hard to select a club. Anything under par is a very good score. I feel so much better about myself that I did yesterday.”
While those two remarkable players are one-two, the player who could have had the lead, the player who had a shot at the only sub-70 score was amateur Bryson DeChambeau, who played with Spieth. DeChambeau birdied the tough 11th and 12th at Amen Corner then added another birdie at 15 to get to four-under par for the day. He was also in second place behind Spieth. He bogeyed 16 then disaster struck two holes later at 18 tee. He hooked his tee shot badly into an unplayable lie, went back to the tee and hit another wild hook. With the penalty, he reached the green in five shots and finished with triple bogey. Despite that, he has put up two straight even par rounds.
“More disappointed than anything,” said DeChambeau, who turns pro next week. “You don’t want to finish with a triple. I’ve played some really good golf.”
Not many did on the difficult day.
In all, there were only seven players under par at the day’s end. Danny Lee (74) and Scott Piercy were in a two-under. Brandt Snedeker, Hideki Matsuyama and Soren Kjeldsen were the only others in red numbers.
The carnage and difficulty isn’t over yet.
Spieth issued the warning after he finished:
“Tomorrow will probably be more difficult than today.”
