By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — Once the triple option is called, decisions are dictated by circumstances so I reluctantly joined the small band following Steve Stricker during the third day of The Masters.
Stricker is bland in the Pied Piper world of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and the flat bellies who swing all out every time they have a driver in hand. No matter what he did on Saturday at Augusta National, his gallery was not going to expand by leaps and bounds.
He’s been a pro for almost 20 years with only one significant victory and his career was so far in the dumpster that he was voted PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year in both 2006 and 2007.
Stricker would never be a personal pick to close out a major in style, but a promise is a promise and he was the first to get through No. 7 at five-under-par or better — the predetermined number to separate me from a pine tree behind the seventh green.
For three hours, he shied from chance-taking and played to his strength, which is clearly his putter. On No.11, for instance, with the breeze pushing sky-high second shots toward a pond left of the green, he played right and short. From 90 feet, he two-putted, misreading the break a bit, but judging the speed just right on the birdie try.
The 96 players who started the tournament recorded 640 birdies during the first two days and that barrage sent fans criss-crossing the landscape, seeking birdie binges. The 50 golfers who played the best during the first 36 holes made 160 birdies on Saturday, including 47 on the two par fives on the front nine.
Pin positions, like the one on the raised dining room table that is the back right part of No. 1, made it difficult to birdie five in a row like Chad Campbell and Sandy Lyle did on Thursday and Friday. And, don’t forget that this is The Masters, the first major of the year.
Stricker followed his birdie on the seventh with nine straight pars, including a handful of stressful putts in the 4- 5-foot range. An efficient birdie on No. 17, followed by a par on the uphill 18, completed a tidy 68, which equaled the best round of the day.
When the flamboyant ones had signed their scorecards, the almost invisible Stricker was fifth and on the fringe of those with a chance to win the green jacket on Sunday. He needs help from those playing in the two groups immediately behind him, but his position is far superior to that of Woods.
At 209, Stricker trails four players. At 212, Woods is behind nine players and tied with eight others. It would take a 64 or 65 from Woods and a heap of messing up for him to win his fifth Masters.
Fortunate the first two days following a given in Arkie Ken Duke and a guess named Kenny Perry, Saturday’s coverage plan was in flux.
The pairings were peppered with star power, including Woods and Mickelson, and spread out over almost two hours. Any of the 32 players who started the day under par could be in the hunt with something in the mid-60s.
Option one was to throw a dart at a twosome and go all 18 holes with those players.
Option two was to follow Woods. At 1:25 p.m., the man working the small scoreboard between the pines and the people put up a green zero by Woods’ name and there were moans from those who calculated correctly that he had started with a double bogey.
Option three was to hunker down behind the second green, check the scoreboard up the hill behind the seventh green, and glom onto the first group with a player at red five or better. Hello, Steve Stricker.
Harry King
The dean of Arkansas sports writers, Harry King updates his column five days per week with the latest on the Razorbacks. A 35-year veteran of The Associated Press, King joined the Arkansas News Bureau in May of 2002. He’s covered the Razorbacks since the Arkansas-Texas game dubbed the Big Shootout in 1969.
