Masters a struggle

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Is this the Masters or the U.S. Open?

Midway through the 71st quest for the green jacket – in a tournament that usually provides plenty of fireworks in the form of birdies and eagles – the conversation isn’t so much about who is or isn’t leading.

The talk is about how nobody is lighting up Augusta National, about how the galleries don’t have reason to roar, about the golf course playing so tough the Masters is being turned into a survival test – you know, like an Open.

“They are not going to go low here,” Tiger Woods said Friday after shooting a 74, satisfied that at 3 over par and five shots off the lead he’s still in the picture for a fifth Masters title.

Woods was right. When the sun set on Augusta, a grand total of three players from a field of 97 were under par – six fewer than a day earlier.

The lead, at a mere 2 under par, was shared by Brett Wetterich, playing in his first Masters, and Tim Clark of South Africa, who finished second last year to Phil Mickelson. Wetterich has had rounds of 69 and 73, and Clark a pair of 71s.

Sixty players survived the 8-over cut of 152, the highest cut since 154 in 1982.

Two players, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey, managed 4-under 68s for the low rounds of the day, and Jerry Kelly shot a 69.

But by and large, conditions were so firm and fast, so treacherous, that anybody who didn’t want to crash and burn going for tucked pins made his way around Augusta National like a novice riding the brakes on the Schuylkill.

Mickelson didn’t shoot himself out of the tournament, but he has his work cut out if he plans to repeat. After a 76 Thursday, Mickelson rebounded with a 73, leaving him 5 over and seven shots off the lead.

In some quarters, the debate already has begun about the 7,445-yard course. Is it such a beast under the conditions that it’s altering the personality of the Masters, long known as the most exciting of the majors?

Last year, Chad Campbell led after two rounds with a 6-under total, four shots better than this year’s co-leaders. In 2005, Chris DiMarco led after 36 holes with a 10-under, eight shots lower.

Both years, even though Augusta National was at its current length, rains had softened the course and weakened its defenses. Not this year. At this rate, Woods’ record-low score of 18 under in 1997 is safe, to say the least. Heck, even par might win.

“Augusta was Augusta,” Kelly marveled, sounding like a man who had just gone a few rounds with Muhammad Ali in his prime. “There’s no course like it. And it’s shaping up, with the conditions, to be a tournament like no other.”

For the second day, Wetterich, a 2005 qualifying school graduate, has owned a piece of the lead.

Wetterich, who would be the first to liken himself to a Ford pickup in a world full of Mercedes-Benzes on the PGA Tour, used to feel self-conscious about his lack of a golfing pedigree (Wallace State Community College). That’s less an issue now, especially since he played his way onto the Ryder Cup team last year.

“I don’t feel like I shouldn’t be out here playing and I don’t feel like I shouldn’t be at the top of the leader board,” Wetterich said.

In the morning, when he sank a 25-foot putt for birdie at the ninth hole, Wetterich got to 4 under and took the sole lead. That ended when he stumbled to back-to-back, three-putt bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes. It would have been worse had he not sunk an 8-footer to save par at the 17th hole.

“That kind of stopped my bleeding,” Wetterich said. “That helps me out mentally, when I’m making 8-footers for par instead of missing them.”

Among those players who had no problems with the way Augusta National has played is Clark.

With big hitters like Woods unable to attack the course the way they would like, Clark figures it benefits him and his fellow short-hitters.

“I like the way the course is playing now, where it looks like 4 under, 3 under could win the tournament,” he said. “That really suits the guys that are not hitting it longer.”

Masters

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par: 36-36–72

Today’s TV: 12:30 p.m., CBS

Inside

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