Arnold Palmer has been playing in the Masters for 48 years. So what’s another day?
Palmer’s farewell tour around Augusta National now will be completed over breakfast Saturday morning. When rain suspended play Friday afternoon, leaving Palmer stranded on the 13th hole, it seemed fitting that his last round should take two days to finish.
Palmer will play his final six holes beginning at 6:45 a.m. Central time. The ovations will rain down on him just as they have since 1955.
Then Palmer will exit the stage, and it will be Vijay Singh’s turn.
Singh never will be as popular as the 72-year-old legend, but he played the kind of golf Friday that made Palmer synonymous with the Masters. He splashed his way through the muck to post a 7-under-par 65, leaving him at 9 under.
The Fijian’s stellar round gave him a three-shot lead over Retief Goosen, who was at 6 under through 11 holes. Among those who finished, he had a four-shot lead over Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Angel Cabrera.
The downpour, another tradition at the Masters, means 38 players will get an early wake-up call Saturday. Along with Goosen, Tiger Woods at 3 under through 10 could gain ground on Singh by taking advantage of premium scoring conditions on rain-softened greens.
They will have to considering the way Singh played Friday. He broke out with a 30 on the back nine. He made a 25-footer for an eagle on the par-5 15th and then roared home with birdie putts on 17 and 18.
The run put the 2000 Masters champion halfway home to another green jacket.
“My wife asked me [Thursday] night, `What would be a good number for you?'” Singh said. “I said 68. I thought about it after I finished and I said, `That’s a good score I shot.'”
It was even better considering it was raining when he teed off. Singh says he isn’t a good mudder, so he wasn’t expecting much. Other players, complaining about muddied golf balls, thought the round never should have started.
But Singh’s caddie, Paul Tesori, told him he had packed nine towels in the bag to keep him dry. He managed to survive the early holes, and then went to work when the clouds broke.
“I didn’t expect to shoot what I did,” Singh said. “I was just going out there to play a solid round of golf.”
Rounds of 65 were supposed to be harder to come by on the new-look Augusta National. However, in a pre-Masters sneak peak, Singh scorched the toughened layout with a 63.
Even though the conditions weren’t the same, easier pins and no galleries, Singh walked away from the round thinking, “Wow, that wasn’t that difficult.”
Singh also has the experience of knowing what it takes to win the Masters. More important, he says his game is even better than when he won his first green jacket. He came into this tournament fresh off an easy victory in the Shell Houston Open.
“I’m a much better player now than I was two years ago,” Singh said. “That should carry me through if I’m playing the same way.”
Garcia was among the players who appreciated Singh’s round.
“If everything seems to go a guy’s way, he can shoot a 65 or so, but I don’t see many coming,” Garcia said. “Even with the greens as soft as they are, the course still is playing a long way, and not easy to score.”
Garcia was disappointed that he could only muster a 71 Friday. Still, he felt good to be in contention.
After Phil Mickelson, Garcia probably rates as the next best player never to win a major. However, at age 22, the pressure isn’t mounting yet for him to win the big one.
Garcia, though, doesn’t want to wait.
“I’ve been up there, and I know what it feels like,” said Garcia, who finished second in the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. “You always want to be on the leaderboard in the majors because it’s tough to shoot good rounds. A good round [Saturday] and I’ll be fine.”
On the scoreboard, Palmer had another poor round Friday. After an opening 89 convinced him that this should be his last Masters, Palmer was 8 over through 12 holes. He made only four pars.
But it didn’t matter to the legion of followers who cheered him with every step. He was like a human wave, bringing people to their feet when he walked up to each green.
Palmer returned the affection, waving to the crowd and shaking as many hands as he could grab. This was a celebration 48 years in the making.
Garcia, who is fluent in English, captured the spirit of the day even if he did confuse a phrase. He said hearing the cheers for Palmer reverberating throughout the course gave him, “What do you call, chicken pops?”
They’re called goose bumps, enough to cover every inch of Augusta National on Friday–and now Saturday too.
