Dave Tindall on a day to remember - watching three-time winner Phil Mickelson make a move at Augusta National.
Dave Tindall on a day to remember - watching three-time winner Phil Mickelson make a move at Augusta National
My first visit to Augusta National last year was special in so many ways.
But there was one very obvious missing ingredient. The perennial challenge from three-time Green Jacket winner Phil Mickelson.
I don't recall seeing 'Lefty' hit a shot 12 months ago when he came a never-in-contention tied 27th, his worst Augusta finish since he missed the cut in 1997.
But seeing Phil make a Masters charge was an itch I needed to scratch so this morning I decided to follow him around Augusta's front nine.
After he somehow carved out a two-over 74 when off the boil yesterday, he told the press that all he needed was "one hot round" to get back in contention.
And Phil being Phil, he flicked the switch and got it, going from seven back at the start of play to just three behind after the second best round of the day, a four-under 68.
The first fairway is just outside the media centre so I dashed out at 10.45am to see him knock one down the middle before hitting a loose iron right of the green.
Rather than dread the impending chip, I hoped this would be my first glimpse of Mickelson magic and, right on cue, Phil waved the magic wand (his wedge) and dinked his chip to three feet. Par.
After trying to work my way around the vast number of patrons behind the back of the first green I missed Mickelson's tee-shot at two but as I crossed the walkway down the fairway I saw Phil was in the bunker with the high lip down the right-hand side.
A chip out and a modest wedge meant a second straight par.
Better news at the short par three third though as he boomed a drive down the fairway, hit a lovely wedge that released to three feet and knocked in the birdie.
A slope behind the fourth tee is a great vantage point to see players hit their shots at the long par-three.
Left-handed Phil decided to cut one in from right to left and what a beauty it was, his ball arrowing towards the pin, coming back down a slope and settling just a few feet away. A second straight birdie.
The previous night Phil said his plan was to birdie two of the first three to get back to evens and then go from there. Well, as it turned out, it was a pretty decent prediction. It just took him four holes rather than three.
As I can't write or tweet from the course (no mobiles are allowed), I usually dash back to the media tent after watching the tee-shots at four. But with Phil on a roll - "Phil's got some mojo" shouted a man next to me - I decided to stay out there and walk to five and six, the only two holes on the course I've never seen before.
And what a treat.
I'm not talking about Mickelson's play - he three-putted five and had to hole a testing par putt at six despite a fine tee-shot - I'm talking about Augusta National itself.
Spectacular
The front nine doesn't get as much attention as the celebrated back nine but, wow, there are some fantastic holes on the outward half.
When I walked down the left side of the fifth fairway I looked left and was blown away by what I saw. There, maybe 100 feet down I could see a clear view of the 16th green. With the Masters always shot closely on TV, it's hard to marry the holes up so I had no idea of the topography on this part of the course. Quite simply, it's spectacular.
Move further down the fairway to near the fifth green and you come to the sixth tee-box and there was another big surprise.
The green is far down below but in the hollow before the land rises up again there were hundreds of patrons. It means the tee-shots sail over their heads!
This part of the course is a real hidden treasure so I'll try and sneak back tomorrow.
The love for Mickelson at Augusta is enormous. I must have heard a thousand shouts of "Go Phil" as he made his way through to tee-boxes while playing partners Hunter Mahan and Peter Hanson hardly got a look-in.
This, despite Hanson overcoming a double bogey at the first to move into a tie for the lead with birdies at three, four and five thanks to some strong iron play and three good putts.
Of course, a round with Phil isn't complete without him having to scramble from trees and bunkers and he did just that to save pars at seven and eight.
And by keeping his card intact he was able to produce the back nine move (which I watched on the monitor back in the press tent) to end the day on two-under.
The only man who bettered Mickelson's 68 was the man he outdueled in the 2006 Masters.
Rolling back the years
Fred Couples seems to have been rolling back the years at Augusta for ever and ever. One day it has to stop but for now Freddie can still compete with the best of them around his favourite course.
His superb 67 today means he goes into the weekend as the joint halfway leader with Jason Dufner. Not bad for a 52-year-old with never-ending back problems.
Everyone loves Fred. "He's just cool," said Rory McIlroy with perfect brevity and that languid swing and laid-back attitude gets everyone, even the players themselves, rooting for him.
Couples, as he so often does, made the game look easy today and, for large parts, so did McIlroy who is just one shot back. He's now the clear favourite with the bookies to go on and claim victory and I wouldn't disagree.
By contrast, Tiger made the game look impossibly hard, his swing deserting him completely and his putter seemingly going into mourning at the loss.
He did well to agree to a TV interview to be honest although, despite the attempts at positive words, you don't win majors from tied 40th at halfway. There are too many players ahead of him and the weight of history against him producing a charge from his position is overwhelming.
You can also strike a line through Luke Donald, the world number one playing more like a world number 101 to finish at four over.
"Tomorrow will be a critical day," said Mickelson after his round. "Saturday is the day you have to play well to get yourself in position where you don't have to make up too much ground on the leaders."
With the course drying out and becoming more of a true Augusta test, it will suit the likes of Mickelson and Couples who know it inside out.
McIlroy, surely the best player in the world even though the rankings say not quite, can thrive in any conditions but you'd be hard pressed to correctly name the final two pairings on Sunday.
Which of course is why this Masters is shaping up to be another epic.
Seeing Phil in the flesh making a move at Augusta was a real thrill.
And having backed him on the eve of the tournament I'm hoping for more of the same on the weekend.
