Toss that card Peter Hanson endeared himself to weekend duffers everywhere with his shank off the 12th tee. Didn't do much for his chances at the Masters, however. The third-round leader opened with two bogeys in his first three holes Sunday, and never could get anything going. He wound up in a four-way tie for third with Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson. The group finished at 280, two strokes behind Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen. "It was," Hanson said, "a pretty tough day."
Keep that card Kuchar has been the one of the big story lines before at the Masters. But that didn't match what Kuchar accomplished Sunday. Kuchar started the day at 5 under, and he was still there after the front nine. But he had birdies on the 12th and 13th holes and an eagle on the 15th to move to 9 under and pull into a tie for the lead.Kuchar, however, had a bogey on the 16th and finished with three pars to come up just short. "This is my first real experience with being in the hunt on the back nine of Augusta," Kuchar said. "It's awesome. I don't know that there's much else like it."
On the course with ... Charl Schwartzel loved everything about his run as Masters champion. Except the way it ended. The South African made bogey on two of his last four holes, and finished at 8 over for the tournament. He never broke par this week, an opening-round 72 his best score. "I felt more than capable of defending," he said. Instead, he was signing his scorecard just as the leaders were getting ready to tee off. Schwartzel watched the rest of tournament on television before turning over the green jacket to Watson.
Masters moment Anyone placing early bets for the U.S. Open in June would be wise not to pick Sergio Garcia. He doesn't think he can win there, or at any other major. "I'm not good enough," the 32-year-old from Spain told the Spanish media Saturday, discouraged after he tumbled from contention yet again. "In 13 years, I've come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place." He didn't back off those comments following his 1-under-par 71 Sunday and finishing the Masters 2 under, tied for 12th place.
One putt ... An ace for Bo Van Pelt on the 16th -- the second year in a row he has made two eagles on the back nine -- for a tournament-best 64. An ace for Adam Scott on the same hole, sending him to a 66.
Two putt ... Lee Westwood of England ran off three consecutive birdies, but the last one hurt. He had an 8-foot eagle putt to tie for the lead on the 15th and missed it, and a final birdie on the 18th gave him a 68 and only made it look close.
The last word "I know the big things that we're working on are done, but it's the little things, too, now. The details sometimes can be magnified. Especially on a golf course like this, it doesn't take much. You're a yard off here or there, which happened to be quite often, and next thing you know, I'm 40, 50 feet away." Tiger Woods, who finished 5 over for the tournament, his worst showing ever as a pro at the Masters.
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