New York Post, Saturday, November 14, 2020nypost.comA
UGUSTA, Ga. — So, you say
you don’t believe in the gods
that reside high up in the tall
pine trees that surround, overlook
and protect Augusta National?
You say you don’t believe there
are mystical forces at work on
the sacred grounds where green
jackets are awarded and hearts
are broken?
You say you
don’t believe in
karma, that it
can sometimes
be a bitch?
Well then,
have a look at
Bryson De-
Chambeau’s
past two days at the Masters.
You know what Augusta Na-
tional has been doing to De-
Chambeau, the favorite to win
entering the week and the big-
gest story in golf?
Punishing him.
How else do you explain De-
Chambeau’s nightmarish two days
after arriving to Augusta, so cock-
sure about his game and the possi-
bility that he might dismantle Ali-
ster MacKenzie’s crown jewel
with his newfound bulk, length
and technological advances?
DeChambeau has spoken
overtly about the fact he be-
lieves he’s beating the system
with all the work he’s done to his
body, that it was going to be up
to everyone else in the game to
catch up to him.
Augusta National has shown
him, in the past two days, that he
won’t be beating
the system
on its
watch.
Let’s
start with
Friday’s sec-
ond round,
which De-
Chambeau
began with a par on the difficult
first hole and then a birdie on
the par-5 second, on which his
tee shot went 380 yards, leaving
him 176 into the green.
He was 1-under through two
holes and 3-under for the tourna-
ment. All was going according to
plan — hang tough on the diffi-
cult holes and
eat the par-5s
for lunch.
Then No. 3
happened.
You might
recall No. 3 at
Augusta,
tamely named
“Flowering
Peach.’’ It’s the shortest par-4 on
the golf course at 350 yards and
DeChambeau, before the tour-
nament began, cavalierly spoke
about driving it with ease.
On Friday, DeChambeau did
something that, in 26 years cover-
ing the Masters, I’ve never seen:
He lost a ball in the rough.
He hit driver high into the air to-
ward the third green, the ball
landed in the left rough ... and no
one could find it.
How ironic that DeChambeau
won the U.S. Open in September
at Winged Foot, where the rough
was ankle deep and the fairways
narrow, never coming close to los-
ing a ball that week ... and he loses
one Friday on the shortest par-4
on the course.
The scene was surreal. We’re
used to seeing search parties con-
sisting of caddies, players, volun-
teer marshals, spectators and
sometimes even media searching
for a player’s lost ball in U.S. Open
and British Opens.
Not at the Masters.
But there was DeChambeau,
after the maximum time allowed
for a ball search was up, taking
that dreaded perp ride on a cart
back to the tee to reload.“So, you’re saying if can’t find it
... it’s a lost ball?” DeChambeau
was heard asking officials through
the television microphones.
DeChambeau was understanda-
bly agitated. Marshals are on the
grounds for the purpose of spot-
ting errant shots in the rough or
woods. But with the COVID-19 re-
strictions, there do not appear to
be as many marshals working this
Masters and, of course, there are
no patrons allowed. So that re-
duced the amount of eyes on De-
Chambeau’s tee shot.
The debacle ended in a triple
bogey 7 for DeChambeau, who in
Thursday’s opening round took a
shocking double-bogey 7 on the
par-5 13th hole, another hole he ex-
pected to feast on this week, brag-
ging that he was hitting wedge into
that green in the practice rounds.
Let’s all agree that 7 is not a
lucky number for DeChambeau —
certainly not on Friday the 13th.
DeChambeau stands at 1-over
and is on the wrong side of the
cutline, which was projected at
even par at day’s end Friday, but
could move to 1-under as the sec-
ond round is completed Saturday
morning with 49 players at even
or better and the cut consisting
of the low 50 and ties.
DeChambeau, who will resume
his second round on the par-5 13th
Saturday morning, has six holes to
finish in his second round. If the
cut does move to 1-under, he must
play those final six holes in 2-un-
der to stay in the tournament.
Before the tournament, DeCham-
beau boldly described Augusta Na-
tional, which is par-72, as “a par 67
for me because I can reach all the
par-5s in two, no problem.’’
“That’s what I feel like par is for
me,’’ he said.
The gods of Augusta National
were listening. They obviously
didn’t like what they heard. Karma
can, indeed, be fickle.Conquer Augusta?
Think again, Bryson
Mark CannizzaroMarkCannizzaro
WHERE ARE
YOU? In a rarity
for the Masters,
Bryson DeCham-
beau lost his ball in
the rough on the
third hole Friday,
en route to carding
a triple bogey 7 on
the hole and put-
ting the favorite on
the brink of miss-
ing the cut for the
weekend at Au-
gusta National.
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