Adam Scott is six shots off Michael Wright’s pace at the halfway mark of the Australian Masters at the Metropolitan Club in Melbourne.
If Scott is to don a third Masters gold jacket in succession, he must start sinking some putts.
Next week in the Australian Open, world number two Scott will again do battle with world number one Rory McIlroy, seeking to reverse last year’s result when McIlroy birdied the 72nd hole, and Scott bogeyed, for the Northern Irishman to win his first tournament of the year, by a shot.
McIlroy has had a sensational year, winning two majors and banking 5.4 million euros on the European tour, with daylight second, then Henrik Stenson’s 2.5 million euros.
So there’s a lot at stake for the ever-popular Scott, providing he can get back in the groove. But the first two days seemed to show he is missing the world’s best caddy, Steve Williams, who has gone into semi-retirement.
So far at the Metropolitan, Scott has carded 26 pars, with two eagles, four birdies, a double, and three bogeys to be in a tie for 12th on 3-under, after rounds of 73 and 68.
Little-known Wright, at 9-under, has a two-shot lead over another little-known Paul Spargo, with the consistent leftie Richard Green and Metropolitan amateur member Todd Sinnott sharing 6-under.
Lurking are the 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy at 4-under, Marcus Fraser a shot back with Scott, while American visitor Kyle Stanley and Jarrod Lyle share 2-under.
The 16-year-old amateur Ryan Ruffles is among 30 of the 66 weekend qualifiers who are in red numbers. Ruffles played the first two rounds with Scott and Ogilvy, and consistently outdrove them.
It will be interesting to see how he fires over the final two rounds, especially as he wasn’t overawed in carding 75, 68 to be 1-under.
Channel Seven is doing a great job covering the Masters, with the very versatile Peter Donegan the chief caller, and expert commentary from Wayne Grady, Ian Baker-Finch, and Ossie Moore.
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…
