Nearly two decades later, the most famous image of Sergio Garcia in a major remains his running, leaping scissor kick after hitting a recovery shot during the final round of the 1999 US PGA Championship.
Some of the names on the first page of the Masters leaderboard are veteran ones – Sergio Garcia, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler. But some other guys are getting their first taste of Sunday pressure at Augusta National.
Not even quadruple-bogeys in back-to-back Masters rounds or being 10 shots behind after Thursday could keep Jordan Spieth from getting back to a familiar position by Saturday night: in the mix to win another green jacket.
Instead of competing in the Masters this weekend, Dustin Johnson is at home in Florida, and doing “a little better every day”, according to his trainer Joey Diovisalvi.
Ernie Els didn’t know how he’d feel stepping onto the first tee at Augusta National on Thursday afternoon to open what will likely be his final Masters. He wasn’t going to over-analyse it, nor try to escape it.
It’s no surprise to form watchers that Marc Leishman leads the Australian assault on the Masters after round one. And by the sound of the big Victorian, it’s no shock to him, either.
Dustin Johnson said on Thursday afternoon at Augusta National that he was “going to give it a try”, despite suffering a freak injury to his lower back during a fall at his rental home a day earlier. He never teed off.
The players who best control distance and spin on their wedge shots do well every week on tour, but it’s an especially important skill when the conditions are like those at Augusta National during the first round.
A shoeless Dustin Johnson falling down a small set of stairs and injuring his back on the eve of the first round of the Masters surely ranks as a freak, unfortunate incident. But how freak and unfortunate was it? Perhaps you need to compare it to other bizarre golf injuries in recent memory to put Read more…
Australian Golf Digest
