GOLF MASTERS NOTEBOOK : He’s Looking for a Few Good Putts

Two days ago, Tom Watson sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, just to make the Masters cut. A par on that hole would have sent the two-time champion packing.

“Good omen,” Watson said.

After a 67 Saturday, Watson is nine strokes off the lead and tied for 12th place. His work is cut out for him, but remember, Jack Nicklaus stood in ninth place after three rounds in 1986 before winning.

“This is a young man’s golf course,” Watson said, despite the success of Nicklaus and 47-year-old leader Raymond Floyd. “You need a young man’s nerves to play it.”

Watson, 39, won the Masters in 1977 and 1981, but has won only one tour event (the 1987 Nabisco) in the past six years. The fault lies in his putting, which, he admits, has been shaky for four or five years now.

Watson said he has hundreds of putters in his basement at home.

He’s using one this week that was sent to him by a friend in Australia.

“It has a better sight line,” Watson said, adding that he calls the putter, “Ugly Duckling.”

When asked what he sees in amateur Chris Patton, Gary Player said: “I see a hell of a lot of him.”

Patton weighs approximately 300 pounds.

When Patton was asked if he’s related to the former great amateur player Billy Joe Patton, or Gen. George Patton, Chris said:

“They never come to our family reunion.”

Tom Kite, who matched Nick Faldo for the low round of the day with a six-under-par 66 (214), is asked at every tournament if he’s hungry to win his first major.

“The only thing I can do is play well,” Kite said patiently. “I have no control over the guys on the leader board. I’m a good enough player if I take care of Tom Kite’s business. . . I’ll be OK.”

Fifty years ago today, Jimmy Demaret won the Masters. He took home $1,500.

Tom Weiskopf, who finished second four times in the Masters and is now a television commentator for the tournament, recalled the years that he had to “baby-sit” Brent Musburger when he was a CBS sportscaster.

“Brent was not a golfer,” Weiskopf told the Chicago Tribune. “He didn’t understand the terminology, jargon, or tradition of the game.

“My job was to baby-sit Musburger in this telecast. I was told to tell him everything I knew about Augusta National and golf in general. It was not a pleasant situation.”

Floyd commiserated with Mike Donald, who shot an 82 Friday after opening with a 64 in his first Masters competition.

“I remember my first year here (1965),” he said. “I had a 69 the first day and then I was paired with Arnold Palmer and I shot an 83. It’s difficult to come here as a rookie and shoot a good opening round and then play the second day while leading the tournament.

“You have never seen such a press corp, and then there’s all that tradition.”

Donald continued to have problems. After a first-round record 64, Donald added a 77 to his second-day 82. He now leads only two golfers in the remaining 49-player field.

Palmer had his poorest 36-hole score (156) in four years, but vowed not to quit trying.

“I’m going to play for a little while yet,” said Palmer, 60, who has not made the cut since 1983. “Probably another year or so, then maybe not. I’m going to go lengthen my driving and come back next year and challenge.”