April 7, 2007

Tough end for Watson
He misses the cut at the Masters after getting a triple bogey on No. 18.

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star

AUGUSTA, Ga. | It's not in a golfer's blood to play defense, but Tom Watson had no other choice. The course was too long, the wind too strong and the greens too fast to approach Augusta National any other way Friday.

Watson hit only four greens in regulation during the second round of the Masters, but he was able to grind it out through enough holes to put himself in position to make the cut. Watson approached the 18th hole 3 over par for the day and 6 over for the tournament. With co-leaders Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark already in the clubhouse at 2-under-par 142, Watson simply needed to finish 8 over to play the weekend.

That meant that Watson, a two-time Masters champion, had 6 shots at the par-4 No. 18. In any other year, that would be money in the Augusta National bank. But Watson's second shot found the right bunker, and his third didn't make it out of the sand. His fourth left him with a long putt. Watson had two putts for a double bogey, two putts for 36 more holes at his beloved Augusta.

He'd need one more.

Watson triple-bogeyed No. 18 and finished the second day at 9 over par. He missed his ninth Masters cut in the last 10 years.

"The golf course is very difficult," a defeated Watson said. "If you get wild and too aggressive, you're going to have problems. You have to play defense on it. I let them have a field goal and an interception return for a touchdown on the last hole."

Through two days, Augusta National is winning. The galleries are desperate for someone to cheer for. Only three out of 96 players -- Wetterich, Clark and Vaughn Taylor -- are under par heading into the weekend. The cut was set at 8-over-par 152, the highest since 1982. As the day went on, players figured out, like Watson, that only defense would win this championship.

"There's just a lot of flags out there that I can't go at," said Clark, who has strung together back-to-back 71s. "If I do, with the firmness of the greens, I'm not even going to keep it on the greens. I'm just going to play how I can to shoot 70, 71. For me to go any lower than that is going to be really tough."

Two more 71s might be enough for Clark to win his first major championship, as well as his first PGA event.

So far, the carnage has been brutal. Zach Johnson was leading at 3 under par heading into the 16th hole. He bogeyed the last three holes and finished tied for fourth at even-par 144. Like Watson, Johnson found the right bunker on No. 18 and failed to get his ball out of the sand on his first try.

"I think I hit one bad shot on the last three holes," Johnson said. "That's just Augusta. I guess I got 'Augustacized.' "

That's a new one. If this keeps up, players are going to have unprintable names for what happens beneath the pines. Everyone except for Wetterich. A 33-year-old unknown playing in his first Masters, Wetterich now has led the field for two straight rounds.

"I'm trying to make as many pars as I can," Wetterich said. "That's usually not my style of game."

The problem for Wetterich and Clark is that Tiger Woods is still very much in contention despite playing two above-par rounds.

"The whole idea is to never make a double here," said Woods, who is at 3-over 147. "You just plod along and try and put the ball in the right spots and don't have any wrecks out there."

There were simply too many wrecks on Friday, enough to start a pileup on the 18th green. Watson's may have been the worst.

"It was not a good way to end the Masters this year," Watson said. "I'm very disappointed."

To reach J. Brady McCollough, sports reporter for The Star, e-mail jmccollough@kcstar.com

J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell)