HENRIK HAS A
Stenson blows up at the last but Lawrie storms back with a fine 69
AS if there hadn’t been enough illustrations over the years of the fine line separating joy from pain at Augusta National, poor Henrik Stenson scarred the 76th edition with his own contribution yesterday.
One hole from home, he held a one- shot lead on four under par over the Scot Paul Lawrie, who had posted an excellent 69. Heck, what was the worst that could happen? Four hundred and sixty-five steeply uphill yards from the sanctuary of the clubhouse and, as it turned out, every one of them loaded with such danger he might just as well have been scaling the sheer face of a mountain. They reduced the usually gentle Swede to the level of a bad-tempered hacker as it became one of those Augusta moments that are simply hard to watch.
It all began with a drive so far off line that it was as much as he could do to get his recovery as far as the pine needles leading back to the fairway. Next came a thrash that went no more than a hundred yards and a bad-tempered response that would embarrass him were he ever inclined — and he won’t be — to watch a replay. On and on the torture went.
The poor man wasn’t on the green in five and still the course mocked
If you keep winning, people will respect you
him, as he needed three more for an eight that equalled the highest score in Masters history on this hole. If it’s any small consolation to Stenson, one of the others who scored an eight was Arnold Palmer.
Typical Stenson. Once he’d calmed down he came out with a couple of choice examples of dry humour. ‘I briefly thought about trashing my clubs but then I thought I might very well need them again tomorrow,’ he said.
‘I had a lot of good fun over the front nine with a couple of eagles but I never hit a fairway after the 11th and you’re not going to score well here if you are forever playing from the jungle. I haven’t played well for a while and it showed at the finish.’ It certainly did. Out in 31, he came home in 40. And you thought football was a game of two halves.
With a soft course and the threat of more stormy weather to come, the Masters tournament committee took fright and came up with some novel pin positions. The result was a cautious approach from most players rather than an adventurous one, with the result this was a slowburning day that held the attention while rarely causing the Masters patrons to leap out of their seats.
The misadventures continued late in the day as Phil Mickelson lost a ball at the 10th and Rory Mcilroy put one into Rae’s Creek at the 13th. Luke Donald was at one stage in danger of disqualification for signing for a wrong scorecard, only to be cleared by the rules committee.
Justin Rose’s round featured one birdie and a bogey in a 72. There were good rounds from two of the forgotten men, as England’s Ross Fisher and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington shot 71s, while the remarkable Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez matched Lawrie’s 69.
Out on the course, the problems of others were of no concern to Englishman Lee Westwood, who went to the turn in 32 shots. With four holes to complete he was the joint leader on four under with former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who held the clubhouse lead after a 68.
As for Lawrie, eight years have passed since he was at the Masters and in one sense, nothing had changed. ‘ Ladies and gentleman, Paul Lawrie,’ said the interview moderator, pronouncing it like the painter Lowry.
In another sense, however, everything had changed. In five previous visits embracing 14 largely nondescript rounds Lawrie had never broken 70 and never had an eagle. Yesterday, the 43-year-old emphasised he is a much better golfer now than he ever was with two eagles in the space of three holes on his way to a 69.
Lawrie used to tie himself in knots worrying about what he perceived was a lack of respect following his 1999 Open victory. It wasn’t just that everyone concentrated on Jean van de Velde’s collapse at Carnoustie; also the fact he’d come to America and nobody could be bothered to check how to pronounce his name, and always got it wrong. Now he allowed himself a good-natured grimace at the moderator’s mistake and gave one indication of why it has come right for him on the course with a beautiful response on the subject filled with perspective.
‘I tried for a long time to change how people thought of my Open victory and, to be fair, I failed miserably,’ he said. ‘I used to drive my coach Adam Hunter nuts, he always wondered why I got so upset. He was right. If you keep winning tournaments then people learn to respect you, and that’s what I’ve concentrated on in recent times.’
Hunter died from leukaemia aged just 48 last winter and what he meant — and still means — to Lawrie was obvious. ‘I think about him every day and everything he did for me,’ he said, movingly. ‘He would have enjoyed it today. It’s a pity he’s not here.’
Back home, Hunter’s wife and their two daughters still follow the Aberdonian’s every score and they must have been thrilled with this one. It all came right for him from the par-five 13th, where he struck a marvellous rescue club blow to three feet for his first eagle, before chipping in at the 15th for his second.
Lawrie ended his eight-year exile by moving back into the world’s top 50. He has two sons who hope to follow him into the profession and 13-year- old Michael is here this week filled with wide-eyed wonder. The other? At 16, Craig is off scratch already and competing in the Scottish Boys Championship, starting on Monday. derek.lawrenson@dailymail.co.uk