Weir lurking in the fringes at Augusta
Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:22:47
by Cam Cole
Augusta, Ga. He hasn't made much happen through two rounds -and ignited absolutely no fireworks -but Mike Weir stayed on the fringes of the 2010 Masters on Friday evening by taking a risk at the 18th, and living to tell about it.
After driving into the left trees, the 39-year-old from Bright's Grove, Ont., felt he had no shot to get back to the fairway and was going over his options with rules officials, preparing to take an unplayable lie and its accompanying one-stroke penalty, but finally elected to take a lash at the ball and hope for the best.
"The branches were so low, I wasn't sure it would come out, but it did," said the 2003 Masters champ, who then drilled a 230-yard approach shot to the front half of the green and two-putted for bogey to preserve a round of even-par 72.
If there is such a thing as a great bogey, that was it.
It left him one-under-par for the tournament, seven strokes behind co-leaders Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, but well inside the cut line and -if not exactly threatening -at least plausibly in the battle for a solid finish. He's tied for 18th and will play in today's third round with Sweden's Robert Karlsson, starting at 1:15 p.m.
"The pin placements were so tough, and the greens were so fast, especially if you got above the hole, I think every little two or three footer got everyone's attention, so the pace of play was a little slow," said Weir, whose pairing included Westwood and 16-year-old amateur Matteo Manassero, who made the cut at three-over-par 147.
"A 16-year-old making the cut: unreal," said Weir, who had a spate of putts either lip out or just burn the edges on the back nine, and made a fabulous par at the most difficult hole on the course, the 14th, by chipping to within a few inches of a hole positioned at the top of a ridge.
"But Lee is playing great, driving great, doing everything - playing with a lot of confidence and doing what he needs to do to try to win here. He's got that little extra gear, he can really move it out there and he hits it high."
