AUGUSTA: The omens are there at the Masters for Adam Scott as he bids to become the first back-to-back winner of the year’s first major since Tiger Woods managed in 2002 and just the fourth ever to do so.
For his two rounds so far of 69 and 72 are identical to what he carded last year and his breakdown of 39-32 for Friday’s second round was the same as what he had last year.
Still, he had looked to be in some trouble early on after shedding three strokes in five holes from his starting position of three under.
“It was so difficult. Greens are getting so firm in the afternoon that it was, if you were out of position, almost impossible to hold them,” he said. “You needed to be right in the fairway and hopefully with a wedge. The greens are very firm now.”
Playing in the day’s penultimate grouping and with the breeze getting up to complicate matters further, Scott could have left a big gap between himself and Bubba Watson, who birdied five holes in a row from the 12th to break away from the field. But he stuck to his guns and birdies at 12, 13 and 15 brought him back to where he started the day at three under, four strokes off the pace.
“There’s always opportunities to hit good shots on the back nine,” he said. And I felt it was so important to get through 10, 11, and 12 without dropping another shot, so I could get to 13 and 15 and maybe create some chances for eagle or at least have good looks at birdie.
“I knew if I finished the day in red numbers I would be in a pretty good position going into the weekend.” REUTERS
