Defending champion O'Meara a longshot
SportsLine wire reports
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Besides being the defending Masters champion,
He feels he's too far back for another Sunday charge to the green jacket.
"I don't have much of a chance, to be honest," O'Meara said after shooting a 3-under-par 69 to get to 1-under 215. "I'm probably out of the tournament unless there is a miracle."
José Maria Olazábal was the leader at 209.
The diabolical 17th hole took the steam out of O'Meara's bid on Saturday. Masters officials moved the tee back 25 yards to 425 yards and planted numerous pine trees down both sides on the par-4.
Also, somebody forgot to water the green.
"That hole just isn't fair," O'Meara said. "It has a green harder than the LA freeway. I hit a 9-iron to the middle of the green and it almost ended up on the 18th tee box. There is a landing area there about five or six feet where you can hit it."
O'Meara said he was at least proud of the way he defended his title and the fact he had made the cut in his 19th consecutive major.
"That's hard to do," he said. "My game here this week was about 75 to 80 percent."
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| Mark O'Meara needs a big charge tomorrow.(AP) |
Purse increase announced
The winner of this year's Masters will get a much bigger pay check than O'Meara cashed last year.Augusta National said the purse will be $4 million, with $720,000 going to the winner. O'Meara won $576,000 from a purse of $3.2 million in 1998.
The total purse is more than any other major championship announced this year, but it still trails by $1 million the amount offered in the three World Golf Championship events, The Players Championship and the Tour Championship.
U.S. Amateur champ a spectator
Hank Kuehne didn't hit his wedges well enough to make the cut in the Masters but the U.S. amateur champion stayed around as a spectator for the weekend."I had an awesome experience inside the ropes and now I'll get to see how it is outside the ropes," Kuehne said. "I found out my wedge game wasn't good enough. You have to be very precise at Augusta National. I never had played a course setup this hard."
Kuehne shot rounds of 74 and 78, eight strokes over par and four off the cut.
Kuehne wouldn't say if or when he would turn professional. The Southern Methodist senior said he would make that decision later in the summer.
"Right now I just want to enjoy being at the Masters," said Kuehne, who is staying on the grounds in the "crow's nest" above the clubhouse.
Elderly fans gets up-close action
Dot Baker, 81, had no idea she would become part of the Masters action on Saturday when she parked her chair in her traditional spot left of the first fairway.Scott McCarron hooked his tee shot into the left woods and it came to rest next to her chair and cane. Rules officials asked her not to move until McCarron arrived.
"I asked if I could get up and they wouldn't let me so I just sat there," said Mrs. Baker, whose late husband Tom used to work as a scorer for the Masters.
"You've got the best seat in the house," laughed McCarron, who marked his ball with a tee while Mrs. Baker got up and removed her chair and cane.
McCarron, who started the day one shot behind Jose Maria Olazabal, hit his next shot off the pine straw into the front bunker. He blasted out and two-putted for a bogey.
McKnight leads amateurs
Tom McKnight, a petroleum distributor from Galaz, Va., leads a strong amateur foursome going into Sunday's final round of the Masters. Low amateur wins a crystal vase and a medal.McKnight, who defeated Spain's Sergio Garcia in the U.S. Amateur to /reach the finals and earn a bid to Augusta National, shot a 1-over-par 73 and stood at 4-over 220.
"It has tremendous playing here and I hope I can get the low amateur medal," McKnight said.
Matt Kuchar, the Georgia Tech junior, was a shot behind after shooting 73.
Kuchar was sick early in the week but said "I'm feeling better. My energy is climbing up every day."
British amateur champion Garcia is two shots behind McKnight after shooting a 75.
"This is a great tournament," Garcia said. "I just hope I can make a big move tomorrow."
Trevor Immelman of South Africa, the U.S. Public Links champion, shot 78 for 226.
Elkington says watch Norman
Greg Norman's Masters collapses are the stuff of legend but close friend Steve Elkington says this is the year his fellow Australian could hold together and win the green jacket."Greg has always been a streaky player," Elkington said. "When he gets his confidence going, he's dangerous. I believe over the weekend he will be attacking like he did in the old days."
Norman was one shot behind leader Jose Maria Olazabal going into the weekend, when the Aussie has always managed to find disaster.
"The Masters is the one blemish Greg would like to solve in his mind," Elkington said. "It takes no genius to figure out what winning would mean to him."
Toughest hole
Television doesn't show the 205-yard, par-3 fourth hole very often but it should. It's the hardest hole at Augusta National.The hole ranked No. 1 with a 3.324 stroke average on Saturday.
The much discussed No. 17, a 425-yard uphill par-4 framed by newly planted pine trees is No. 2 in difficulty. It played second hardest on Saturday with a 4.298 average.
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