Augusta, Ga. – It was hard to find traction anywhere Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club. Days of picturesque weather finally gave way to a recurrence of the showers that have become as much a painful part of the proceedings as the botched pronunciation of foreign players’ names on the first tee, or those old Butler Cabin interviews with the winner.
Thirteen groups were on the course when play was halted just after 1 p.m. It resumed after a delay of more than four hours, but when darkness hovered over the grounds and the horn blew the players off for good at 7:40 p.m., yet another marathon finish today was assured.
“We’ve done that so much here now it’s not a big deal anymore,” Brandt Jobe said.
When the players returned to action, it was hard to know whether they were coming or going. Only 11 of the 47 players completed 18 holes, and with outings that varied anywhere from four to nine holes, there were more than a few fits and starts.
Second-round leader Chad Campbell didn’t tee off until nearly 7 p.m. local time, meaning he would play only three or four holes at best. When the Texan birdied the first two holes to move to 8-under par, the thought was he would rue having to stop. While that may not have been true after he bogeyed No. 3 and 4, Campbell did his best to maintain his balance.
“You know, honestly, even the two bogeys I hit good putts,” he said. “Today was fine. It was fine all day.”
However, Campbell’s three- shot advantage before the deluge had been whittled to one by Rocco Mediate and Tim Clark, who birdied the first and fifth holes to go to 5-under. But even Clark’s advance was something of a retreat, with the South African missing a couple of short putts that could have given him the lead.
The same could be said for Phil Mickelson, who started the day at 2-under and moved to 5-under with birdies on the opening three holes. But the lefty fell back as well, suffering bogeys on his last two holes of the day, Nos. 4 and 5.
It may have been Ben Crenshaw who suffered the most. The 54-year-old was the tournament darling after the opening two rounds. At 1-under, Crenshaw was threatening to continue a curious 11-year-itch – in 1973, he was the low amateur here; in 1984, he won his first green jacket; and he won another in 1995.
Now, after another 11-year hiatus, Crenshaw was knocking on the door again, tied for 10th when he teed off Saturday. However, he bogeyed the opening hole and suffered a double on the 575-yard, par-5 second. After a par on No. 3, he dropped shots on Nos. 4 and 7. When he returns to the course today, Crenshaw will be tied for 35th.
While that is likely too great a mountain to climb, the bigger question is, how will the remaining contenders cope with having to navigate anywhere from 27 to 32 holes on the hilly, demanding 7,445-yard course?
“I talked with Chad, and he said it is what it is – just a long walk,” said Jobe, who added that today will be similar to the final round of last year’s International, when players were forced to endure 36 holes at altitude at Castle Pines Golf Club. “Walking through all these hills will be the hard part. It’s going to be really tough, mentally and physically. The person who wins this will have played some really impressive golf.”
Mediate has been bothered by back troubles for years, but, in the face of a winless drought that has reached nearly four years, and having never finished better than 15th here in eight attempts, the veteran said, “I’ll crawl around here if I have to.”
“It’s going to be a very long day; it’s going to be a very tough day,” said Mediate, whose Saturday ended with a birdie on the 240-yard, par-3 fourth. “I have to do something real special the next 32 holes to win this golf tournament, whereas some of the bigger guns just have to play pretty much a nice, solid round of golf. I have to go above that.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
