Asked once what he had to shoot to win a particular tournament, US golfer Roger Maltbie replied: “The rest of the field.”
It’s been a bit like that following Australian golf for the past 20 years. Even when Greg Norman held the world No. 1 position, you could never comfortably watch him play a tournament.
We still get twitchy thinking about the 1996 US Masters, when the Great White Shark took a six-shot lead into the final day and lost by five. It’s deemed one of the biggest sporting chokes of all time, right up there with the All Blacks any time they play a World Cup away from home.
But last year, Adam Scott broke the US Masters hoodoo, pulling on the coveted green jacket which had never before been near an Aussie back – ironic considering it’s half the colour combination of our national sporting clobber.
Coming into this week’s Masters, the talk was all about the Australian invasion of world golf, with Jason Day, John Senden, Steven Bowditch and Matt Jones all racking up recent PGA wins. Finally, we could experience a golf tournament without watching it through our fingertips.
Or so we thought.
We came to Augusta with seven little Australians. In keeping with Ethel Turner’s classic book of the same name, we had to lose a favourite character along the way – in this case two, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, who didn’t make the cut.
No biggie. At the midway point, Scotty was still in the mix in third place, as was John Senden in second. Scott had fought back hard after a dodgy front-nine on day two. You could see his status growing, see him morphing into the world’s top golfer – as he was destined to become if he finished the tournament in third place or better.
To cap it off, Oliver Goss was the only amateur to make the cut, becoming the first Aussie in 74 years to win the Masters low amateur trophy. Not a bad way to celebrate your 20th birthday.
There was much for an Aussie spectator to look forward to until day three happened. Without going into too much detail, it wiped us off the leaderboard. And we never got back on it as Americans Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth were left to duke it out for the winner’s cheque and a questionable wardrobe addition.
Watching it all on telly, a recuperating Tiger Woods could breathe easy. If Adam Scott, Jason Day and Henrik Stenson weren’t firing, his grip on the world No. 1 position would survive another week.
It’s the third tournament in recent weeks where Scott’s had a chance to get to the top of world golf. I haven’t given up hope, not by a long shot. But we’ll be watching through our fingertips for a little while yet.
An “unshakeable” Scottie Scheffler has claimed his second Masters green jacket in three years, carding a four-under-par 68 to finish four shots clear of…
A day after setting a tournament record in the Masters, Tiger Woods has suffered an unwanted milestone at Augusta National. Woods insisted he could…
Tiger Woods is on the prowl for a sixth green jacket after penning another glorious chapter in his storied career with a record-breaking 24th…
Bryson DeChambeau has laid some demons to rest with a stunning back-nine birdie barrage to seize the first-round lead at the weather-hit Masters. The…
A year after being persona non grata at Augusta National, Australian golf legend Greg Norman is back at the Masters, declaring "the boss is…
Australian golf star Min Woo Lee has revealed he will play the Masters with a broken finger after suffering the freak injury in the…
