Masters Tournament
10 Apr 2002 - 14 Apr 2002Augusta National, Augusta, Georgia
Overall, I felt it was a decent week but I didn’t get much out of it. I was a little scrappy the first day, played pretty well the second and third days and then came Sunday. I have to admit that on my last round, I was a little indifferent. I didn’t think that I played that poorly but today the golf course was much more difficult.
I struggled out there again on the greens, not getting a feel for the speed. Thursday they were pretty quick. Then Friday and Saturday they slowed down because of the rain but Sunday they were much faster again. It was actually amazing how dry and fast they can get the greens after all heavy rains the day before.
I know some people will be pointing out that with a 76 in the last round, I had another poor Sunday finish. I can’t really say anything to those critics. I’m just doing my best out there and things aren’t happening for me on Sunday – believe me, I’m as disappointed as anyone. All I can say is I’ll keep trying to do my best and do the same things I’ve been doing in the other rounds. I know it’s going to turn around -- I’m playing too well for it not to. The name of the game is patience and maybe after the poor finishes in these last four tournaments, I’ll turn it around and have great finishes in the next four.
The next major is the U.S. Open and I haven’t been to Bethpage Black, the course where it’s being held, but I’m going to try and get over there before the tournament in June. I think the U.S. Open will be good for me. I drive the ball pretty well which you need to do on those courses, and hit a lot of greens. Par is always a good score at the Open so I think that sets up well for my game.
Right now I need to get a little more consistent. I’m going to spend some time working on my short game – I didn’t think I got the ball up and down as much as I would have liked – and putting, I need to putt better than I did here this week.
I know that by looking at the performance Tiger put in here that the bar has been set pretty high. All of us on the PGA Tour have to just keep working and working harder if we want to narrow the gap between us and the best player in the game.
I’m now going to take three weeks off tour. I’ll actually spend four or five days at home with my family and then get back to work on my game. I have a pretty busy schedule after this break so I want to make sure my game is sharp and that I’m well rested to tackle the busy part of the summer.
Thanks for your support.
Mike
