Moving Day at the 2021 Masters

Posted on April 11, 2021
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Saturday at The Masters Saturday was expected to be as bad scoring-wise as Thursday. There was a distinct harshness to some of the greens - especially 9 and 11. However, just as the gladiators started arriving at the turn, so the horn went and rain softened the course. This changed Augusta dramatically in look and feel and generally improved the scoring. The wind had died and the soft rain made approach shots much easier. Just as play resumed, Hideki was staring down the gauntlet on 11 from Tiger’s Alley and produced a shot of true brilliance, setting up a birdie 3 on the notoriously difficult par 4. This was the start of a ball striking feast that brought him home in 30 blows and a bogey free 65. However, before the feast, some of the stars had already been damaged and were in timid mood on their return. Holes 5 and 7 were the toughest on the day and had churned out a few doubles to hurt Bernd and Jordan. Other casualties across the 4 to 7 death trap included Rosie, JT and Xander. 5 was basically playing a par 5. However, Conners saw this as the moving part of the course - posting a 31 for the front 9 including an ACE on # 6. The afternoon session saw a flurry of shotmaking. Just as plan began, Rosie took the solo lead with a birdie on 8, before Hideki bit back with birdies on 11 and 12 to get into lead too. Rosie bounced back with a 2 on 12 before going flat. Xander stepped up to the eagle plate, tying the lead on 15 with a bomb from across the green before Hideki halved the hole with an eagle of his own. Then Hideki marched on. And On. Birdies on 16 and 17 followed when he was flag hunting which ultimately took him 4 clear with 18 to play. Rosie remains upbeat heading into Sunday despite his lacklustre play on the back 9. He truly loves Augusta and no one would bemoan him a charge for the Green jacket on Sunday. Round of the Day Hideki produced the round of the week with his bogey free 65, 3 shots better than the next best of 68 - which was only 1 of 5 scores in the 60s on Moving Day. He started steady with a lone birdie on the tricky 7th - where he went flag hunting. Then after the rain he took aim at everything. His round even included a 3-putt par on 13. Hideki is a superb ball striker, but not enough credit goes to his pitching and chipping game. Miracle chips on 14 and 18 kept his round going. He will be tough to beat if his short game stays sharp. Shot of the Day Corey Conners is a ball striking machine, with a scorecard littered with birdies, eagles and now an ACE over the 3 days. On Saturday, he took dead aim at the par 3 6th, whilst in the middle of a red hot patch and it never left the flag. Conners was outstanding in 2020 and is again in the mix heading into Sunday. You feel he is destined for major honours and could easily have the low round on Sunday. There were tons of eagles too - our leader producing 1 too to vault him into the lead late in the day. The Leaders The first page of the leaderboard has started to open up with 9 shots separating Hideki and T10. Its hard to see a winner coming from further back than 5 under, but within this batch sits enough talent to make a charge on Sunday. Rosie will feel encouraged that despite his poor play, he is still only a few holes from leading again. Leish and Xander will both be lining up 66s to win. You feel thats whats needed as a minimum. The big surprise yesterday was Jordan, who despite hitting 14 greens, had a miserable day with the putter. If the flatstick can get hot, then who knows. Hideki will need some pressure to make errors. But remember this from yesterday: “Stats don’t lie and its traditionally hard to come from nowhere and win. Players who have been in the top 10 after day 1 and day 2 is a short list and these are the most likely to get the win: Rosie, Zala, Harman, Hideki, Si Woo and Jordan might all be worth the flutter.” Still in with a chance: Rosie, Zala, Jordan and Hideki. The list gets smaller and smaller. The Chasers Following closely on Jordan’s heels in disappointment was JT who had a miserable back 9. A short miss on 10, followed by bogeys on 11 and 14 - that bookended an 8 on 13. His Masters and confidence lay in tatters. He will be playing for the places again, with another major gone. You feel the key to fun and action on Sunday though, could be linked to how this batch attacks the course. A few birdies early on will give the Leaders some hope in catching Hideki. Birdie machine Hovland will go at anything, so too Cam Smith. Lets hope for some fireworks. The wind is expected to pick up nicely for the afternoon - this will give the early starters a chance to make inroads. Reminder of the Stats of the punters: Bucket 1: JT 37% GONE, DJ 16% GONE, Rahmbo 12% GONE, Bulk 10% GONE & Rors 6% GONE. Bucket 2: Jordan 31%, Westie 10% GONE, King Louis 9% GONE, Casey 9% GONE & Fleetwood 7% GONE. Bucket 3: Rosie 12%, Connors 10%, Bubba 9% GONE, JDay 9% GONE & Frittelli 7% GONE. Although many are there, its only for image as opposed to effect. Too many of the picks could not quite keep it alive on Augusta’s undulating landscape. For a full view of the scores head to the Masters Leaderboard and to the majorpunter leaderboard. majorpunter Leaderboard: