A Few Glitches Between Rounds

The start of the third round of the Masters didn’t exactly come off smoothly -- delayed 35 minutes after an apparent error when one player’s name was input into the tournament computer twice, causing delay and confusion.

Fourteen groups were sent off the first tee and 11 off the 10th tee, but because the players who began at the first tee were the leading pairings from the scoreboard, the effect was that the leaders played fewer holes to begin the third round.

On the putting green before the round, confusion reigned.

“This is like the dark ages,” Bernhard Langer said. “How difficult can it be to get 50 players back on the course?

“I told them I have seen amateur events better organized.”

Said Ricci Roberts, the caddie for Ernie Els: “This is unbelievable.”

Scott Steele, the caddie for Tim Herron, said, “Let’s get to the tee quick before they change their minds.”

Five players went off with the wrong partner, according to the scores posted from the second round.

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As it turned out, “Spike-gate” didn’t have legs. The controversy fizzled out Saturday when neither Vijay Singh nor Phil Mickelson wanted to talk about it.

Singh had complained to rules officials during Friday’s completion of the first round that Mickelson’s spikes had damaged the 12th green. In the locker room afterward, Mickelson argued with Singh about the charge, according to a statement he released in the evening.

After finishing his second-round 73, Singh was asked his side of the issue.

“There’s no side. You know it all. Let’s talk about my golf game.”

Mickelson said the issue was closed.

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More parting shots from Jack Nicklaus, who shot 77-76 and missed the cut for only the seventh time since 1959.

The six-time champion, after his 45th and probably final Masters, says he thinks Augusta National should stage a separate pre-tournament event for past champions who can no longer compete.

Nicklaus did not single out 1970 champion Billy Casper, who shot a first-round 106 before withdrawing, but said the course has become too tough for many former champions -- including himself.

“What would be nice, you have the par-three event, but have an event on Tuesday or Wednesday where the champions play and that gives the fans a chance to see them, a chance to say something to them,” Nicklaus said. “Let them play from a tee they can play from and just have it, just part of the practice round. Nothing special, no prizes, no nothing.”

Nicklaus said he was not trying to influence anyone at Augusta National.

“It’s not my tournament,” he said. “Someone just asked me what I thought.”

For what it’s worth, the old codgers are not going away quietly.

The 1971 champion, Charles Coody, says he plans to return next year for his 40th Masters appearance. Coody is 67.

Three-time champion Gary Player, 69, wants to play four more years to break Arnold Palmer’s record of 50 appearances.

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More Jack: Asked whether he would like to be an honorary starter in future events, Nicklaus said, “I have no interest in that whatsoever.”

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Through his first six holes of the first round, he was at the top of the leaderboard, but David Duval couldn’t make it last. He followed his 75 with a 77 on Saturday and missed the cut by four shots.

Duval, whose struggles trying to find his game again have produced seven missed cuts and a withdrawal this year, said the upcoming birth of his son means much more to him than his golf.

“I’m ready to go home right now,” he said.

Brent Duval is coming any day now, said Duval.

“That is going home to real life -- not this fantasy world we are privileged to be in. I’m excited to go home and rub my wife’s stomach.”

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Duval wasn’t the only big-name player to miss the cut. He was joined by Padraig Harrington, Charles Howell III, Sergio Garcia, Fred Funk, Lee Westwood, Davis Love III, Jesper Parnevik, David Toms, Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Price and John Daly.

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Fred Couples made his 21st consecutive Masters cut, three short of the record of 23 by Player from 1959 through 1982. (He didn’t play in 1973.) Couples, who has made the cut in every Masters he has played, was tied for 23rd after 36 holes at 146.

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After the cut was made, five Masters rookies were in the top 11: David Howell, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling and Nick O’Hern.

Luke List, the 20-year-old from Vanderbilt by way of Seattle and the runner-up at the U.S. amateur, made the most of his Masters debut. His second-round 69 took the sting out of his opening 77.