Augusta, Ga. – With the referendum on the changes to Augusta National still to be decided entering the final day of the Masters, solid arguments can be made on both sides.
While the presence of moderate to short hitters like Chad Campbell and Rocco Mediate atop the leaderboard speaks to the equality of the field, those who argue the ever-lengthened course will play into the hands of a select few merely shrug and say, “Wait and see.”
Lending a bit of credence to their viewpoint is the fact that the world’s top five players – Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen – were all within four shots of the lead when play was halted.
“Phil is right there. He’s close,” Mediate said. “Tiger is always close – as long as he’s upright, he’s close.”
Woods, the defending champ and four-time Masters winner, may have had the best day of the quintet on a couple of fronts – his 2-under on the truncated day was the best of the group. Now at 3-under for the tournament and tied for fourth, Woods finished nine holes, meaning he will have to play only 27 today.
Cashing in
The prize money for this year’s tournament was announced. The total purse is $7 million; the winner will earn $1.26 million, with $756,000 for the runner-up.
The last-place share for the 47 players who made the cut is $20,300.
