Golf
Tough going
AUGUSTA National used to be
the place where Europeans could
not stop winning. Now, though,
it seems to be taking its revenge.
Twenty of Europe's finest
were in the 94-strong Masters
line-up and on the opening day
nine of them had at least a share
of the lead at some point.
But one by one they fell away.
Justin Rose led after the first
round, just as he did on his two
previous trips to Augusta.
Running up a triple-bogey
eight on the 15th hole of his second
round, however, began a
slide all the way to 35th for the
27-year-old, who last April was
only one behind before doublebogeying
the penultimate hole.
Last year I putted great, but
this year I struggled to read the
greens,'' he said.
I lost a bit of confidence and
it became tough. It was a weird
week and I found it hard to grind
it out once I slipped out of the
tournament.''
Ian Poulter took over Europe's
challenge on Friday. He was
lying joint third at halfway, but
then shot 75-78 to drop to 25th.
That closing round contained
four double bogeys - and that
after he had birdied the first two
holes to reignite his bid.
Wow, what a day,'' he said.
How do you sum that up?
Every time I hit what I thought
was a half-decent shot I finished
on the wrong side.''
Paul Casey was joint third
when he birdied the third hole of
his final round. But he finished
with a 79 for joint 11th place
alongside Lee Westwood, another
who just could not put it all
together.
9:49am Tuesday 15th April 2008
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