Andy Ogletree ends dream Masters with low amateur honors

MELBOURNE, Australia – Hindsight is always 20/20. As Ernie Els and his International team pick apart how they were once again unable to thwart a U.S. juggernaut that improved to 11-1-1 in the Presidents Cup they will of course mull over a multitude of moments. Sometimes it is a useless exercise. You can second guess every decision you made and go down a very deep rabbit hole. But sometimes it can be cathartic and you can ensure growth in the future. The dissection of the change of culture amongst the team will later, but there is enough to suggest they are on the right track. While every loss is critical in the final wash up, right now let’s look at the moments on the golf course that really hurt the International cause as they seemingly could have been flipped the other way. Related: Final scoring | Playing for Tiger, the U.S. refuses to lose | Day 4 Singles match recaps FRIDAY FOURSOMES Having won the opening Thursday Four-Ball session 4-1, Els and his team were in great shape heading to the second day. But they were also somewhat cautious knowing they hadn’t won a Foursomes session since 2005. On Friday, that seemed set to change… and in a big way. The Internationals were up in all five matches on the back nine and the projected score read 9-1. But projections are just that. When the U.S. side was ripe to be stomped on the neck, the Internationals failed to do so. First Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele provided 18th hole heroics to beat Joaquin Niemann and Adam Hadwin 1 up before Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas did exactly the same over Hideki Matsuyama and Byeong Hun An. On the 18th tee of both matches, Els would have been hoping for a full point but probably would have settled for a halve. Instead, his team walked away with nothing. In the final match of the session, Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith were 2 up with three holes to play, but lost the 16th and 17th holes and had to settle for a half. In the end, the session ended 2.5-2.5 to push the score to 6.5-3.5, not the worst result but certainly not 9-1. “I wouldn’t say we totally lost momentum, but it was, to me, I felt it was a bit of a blow,â€� Els said post-mortem. “The team didn’t react in that way which I was really proud of, but me as captain, and I didn’t reveal it to them, but I felt we had them right in the headlock, and we didn’t quite finish it off on that particular time. “There’s not many times when you get a team like that under the pump like that. It was great, but it could have been unbelievable. It could have been a knockout blow. “That was probably the difference. We had so much momentum. We had so much going for us… that’s 2.5 points, and where we are, we are 1.5 points shy. So absolutely, that was something.â€� SATURDAY FOUR-BALL Once again the Internationals won the Four-Ball session, but a critical missed chance at a full point in the anchor match between Byeong Hun An/Adam Scott and Tony Finau/Matt Kuchar was another twist of a knife in an open wound. Sporting a 1 up lead coming down the final hole, Scott hit his approach to nine-feet. Finau was slightly better at seven-feet. If Scott made the putt it would have secured the win. But he watched it slide by the edge and then Finau took the gift and ran with it. Instead of 3-1 it was 2.5-1.5 and instead of 9.5-4.5 it was 9-5. SATURDAY FOURSOMES The Internationals came out of a 3-1 session loss actually feeling positive after some incredible fighting qualities were shown. Marc Leishman and Abraham Ancer were unbelievable in earning a half after sitting 5 down though 10 holes to Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. Joaquin Niemann and Byeong Hun An also overcame a late two-hole deficit to secure a half point and also ensure a lead heading to singles. But the reality is both matches that were lost had leads at one point and An was given a chance to win a full point from just outside six-feet on the final hole. The putt came up short and low leaving the final tally at 10-8 heading to singles instead of 10.5-7.5. SUNDAY SINGLES Hideki Matsuyama was for a long time the only bright star during a tough start to the singles session. While Abraham Ancer was fighting hard but never leading against Tiger Woods ahead of him and C.T. Pan and Haotong Li were getting dominated behind him against Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson respectively, Matsuyama had bounced out to a 4 up lead through 10 holes over Tony Finau. It was a point the Internationals had basically banked as they scrambled to find other places on the course to try to flip the red tidal wave off the boards. But Finau was having none of it. The American won four straight holes from 11-14 to square things. Despite the collapse, Matsuyama bounced back with a win on the 16th to once again go 1 up but then inexplicably three-putted from 25-feet to lose the 17th and his grasp on a full point. The tied match was like a win to the U.S. Adam Hadwin produced a gutsy performance against Bryson DeChambeau, clawing back from a two-hole deficit early and finding a way to win the 17th hole when it was clear he had to if the Internationals were to have any chance to still win the Cup. Heading down the 18th all square, Hadwin had to win the final hole to keep the slim winning hopes of his team alive. A brilliant approach to just inside 14-feet set the stage for him to be a hero. But as the putt stayed high and missed the hole, so too did the realistic dreams of winning the Cup for the first time since 1998. At least a shared Cup was still in play. Louis Oosthuizen looked impressive for most of Sunday and made the turn with a 3 up lead over Matt Kuchar. As the session played out in became apparent, the Internationals had lost their chance to win the Cup but if the final three matches stayed black they could grab themselves a share of it. Cameron Smith was playing his part against Justin Thomas, surging back from three down to be 2 up with four to play. But Oosthuizen was going the wrong way. By the 15th hole he had lost his lead and looked dead when he drove the ball into the trees on the 16th and was forced to punch out. Only a three-putt from Kuchar saved him. But it was only a short reprieve. Despite Smith closing out a 2&1 win over Thomas ahead Oosthuizen’s approach to 17, a hole he could not afford to lose, bounced past the pin and settled some 16-feet above the hole. Kuchar stiffed his approach to five-feet. When the South African left his putt too far out to the left Kuchar sent his to the bottom of the Cup ensuring a 1 up lead with a hole to play and the vital last half point, the U.S. needed to clinch. The next chance to avenge yet another loss will come in 2021 at Quail Hollow. Given how close they came it can’t come soon enough for the Internationals.  

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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – You, watching back home on your hi-def 65-inch TV screen, go ahead and dream. You, having just paid 10 pounds for a nice fish-and-chips lunch in the spectator village, go ahead and dream. You, salivating in the media center about the possibility of the biggest golf story in a decade (this century?), go ahead and dream. Tiger Woods will not. He will not yet dream about winning his first major in 10 years. He will not project where it might rank in the pantheon of his major victories, currently in a holding pattern at 14. He will not get ahead of himself, even though his third-round 66 at The Open Championship secured a spot among the contenders heading into Sunday’s decisive round at Carnoustie. “We’re not there yet,” he said. “I know what you’re trying to say in asking but let me try and get there first. “Then ask me again.” He may not get there on a Sunday that promises to be full of drama and notable names, each anxious to produce his own winning story. He’ll start the final round at 5 under and in a tie for sixth, four shots off the lead shared by Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner. Two other players are between Woods and the leaders — Kevin Chappell at 7 under and Francesco Molinari at 6 under. But Tiger is closer than he’s been in quite some time, certainly closer to the major form that hasn’t really been on display since four back surgeries left him wondering if he could even continue playing. Of course, he’s famously never won a major when he didn’t hold the 54-hole lead, and it’s a tall order asking him to do it now while he’s still in the midst of his comeback. Dreamers will dream, but the reality of the situation is that Woods may need another super-low round just to have a chance. At least Tiger has that chance. His 66 — his lowest score at any major since the 2012 PGA Championship, and his lowest at The Open since winning in 2006 at Royal Liverpool — was the product of consistent swings, off-the-tee accuracy and a few longer putts, including a 50-footer at the ninth hole that was his longest made putt of the PGA TOUR season. Even before he teed off Saturday, he saw that players were taking advantage of great scoring conditions, especially on Carnoustie’s first 14 holes. That meant the green light was on. “There were a bunch of guys that were putting up great scores, and the golf course was gettable,” Woods said. “I didn’t want to be too far back if the guys got to 10-under par today. I had to stay within reach. “And 5 [under] is definitely within reach.” At one point, Woods even had a share of the lead. That came after a two-putt birdie at the par-5 14th moved him to 6 under. Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner – the 54-hole co-leaders who started the day at 6 under — had just teed off. It lasted less than 30 minutes until Kisner birdied the third hole. But the buzz was clearly evident – even if Tiger himself never realized he was the co-leader. “I didn’t know I was tied for the lead,â€� he said. “I knew I was within one. But I was right there. After I birdied 14, I still had some work to do. I’ve got four more holes to go. “I was just concentrating on trying to play the last four holes under par. As I said, not to try and let these guys get too far out of reach if they got to double digits.â€� Even if he doesn’t get it done Sunday, the signs are encouraging. Woods leads the field in driving accuracy – he’s missed just nine of 45 fairways this week — and his only wayward tee shot in the third round came with iron on the 18th hole. His drive hit just inches from the Barry Burn but bounced a few yards away into the rough. Woods had to pitch out to the fairway, but his wedge from 83 yards stopped just left of the pin for a tap-in par. He said the feeling on Saturday was similar to how he felt in May at THE PLAYERS Championship when he shot a third-round 65 that included eight birdies in his first 12 holes. Woods backed that up with a final-round 69 that left him tied for 11th at TPC Sawgrass. “In a major? I haven’t played too many,â€� Woods said when asked when the last time he felt this good. “I played pretty similar to this at THE PLAYERS Championship. Obviously the fifth major, possibly, but not like this in one of the big four events.â€� His last major victory was the 2008 U.S. Open, which he won by playing 91 holes on essentially one leg. It was a heroic performance as he grimaced every time he had to bend his left knee. Two days later, he underwent surgery and was out for the season. If and when he wins another major, it will be a different path but a similar sensation. A once- improbable achievement given his health two years ago. Now it’s a possibility. Maybe not on Sunday, but the Tiger of old is showing signs of awakening. “I’ve shown that I’ve been there close enough with a chance to win this year,â€� said Woods. “Given what happened the last few years, I didn’t know if that would ever happen again. But here I am with a chance coming Sunday in a major championship. “It’s going to be fun.â€�

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