Harrington pulls a quad early in round

The “Paddy Slam” got buried on Augusta National’s second hole Saturday.

Padraig Harrington did the digging himself after taking a quadruple-bogey nine.

After Harrington pulled his drive into the woods, he punished his ball with another shot that hit nothing but tree.

“You live and learn,” he said.

By the time Harrington successfully blasted out, his hopes for a third consecutive major title were all but gone. In one hole, Harrington went from two under par to two over.

He remained composed, though, shooting three under over the final 16 holes.

“After that you’re obviously a little more carefree,” he said, “and you’re firing at the flags.”

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Smooth operator

Rory McIlroy never thought he was in danger of being disqualified after an incident at the end of his second round. McIlroy failed to get out of a bunker on 18, then swiped the sand with his foot. That move can be interpreted as testing the surface of a hazard -- a no-no that carries a two-shot penalty.

After the round, Masters official Fred Ridley asked McIlroy if wanted to review footage of the incident before the competition committee made a ruling. McIlroy, confident he did nothing wrong, said no.

“They rang me back and said, ‘It would be in your best interests to come up and see the tape,’ ” McIlroy recalled. “I told them, ‘Look, it’s my natural instinct after I hit a bunker shot to smooth out my footprints. I didn’t kick [the sand]. It was more of a sweep.’ ”

The committee agreed, and McIlroy was not assessed a penalty. He shot a 71 Saturday and is tied for 32nd.

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The fine print

Since World War II, the only player to win the Masters without playing the year before is Fuzzy Zoeller, who triumphed in 1979 as a rookie. Neither Kenny Perry nor Chad Campbell played here last year. Angel Cabrera tied for 25th.

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tgreenstein@tribune.com