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After a four-hour tour that proposed in the joy of a Pullman car and finished on a roller-coaster, Lee Westwood finds himself on the starting point of winning his initial vicious championship, the initial by an Englishman given Nick Faldo won the Masters in 1996.
Westwood was stately over the initial 10 holes of his third spin at the Augusta National. He seemed to have determined prevalence over all rivals, including his personification partner and associate Englishman Ian Poulter, and Tiger Woods, who birdied the last hole after a vibrated day, and all the others.
But the fickle Phil Mickelson afterwards constructed a array of blows that brought the nationalistic Augusta throng to the feet in enjoyment and contingency have disgusted Westwood to the core.
After all the drama, Westwood, carrying shot 68, stands at twelve underneath standard and leads Mickelson by one cadence going in to todays last round. Mickelson, who shot a 67, won the immature coupler in 2004 and 2006.
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Westwoods slim lead and Mickelsons worth in experience of such momentous conclusions would crop up to terminate each pick out. A purchase of contenders at the behind of them, together with Woods, Fred Couples and K J Choi, cannot be discounted. Poulter, after a 74, certainly has as well majority to have up.
All was set fair, with the breeze full in the English sails in the late afternoon as Westwood led the Masters by 4 strokes, with Poulter in his slipstream, as they approached the 11th immature and that treacherous, reef-strewn territory of the march well known as Amen Corner.
If any prayers were said, it was Mickelsons that were answered by near-miracles. He constructed dual useful blows, creation an eagle 3 on the 13th, that is not uncommon, and an eagle dual on the 14th, that is as singular as anything.
With those couple of shots, Mickelson became usually the third chairman in story to make back-to-back eagles at the Masters. More to the point, he had done up four strokes in a couple of mins and vehement the throng in to nationalistic fervour.
And whilst he was you do so, Poulter forsaken a shot on the wily 11th. Westwood, additionally in difficulty there, manfully done his standard with a vicious putt. Westwood and Poulter both put their tee shots in to the fort guarding the front of the par-three 12th. Both bloody their fort shots over the green. Poulter available a horrible double-bogey that probably scuppered him and Westwood forsaken one shot.
As is the proceed over the at the behind of 9 at Augusta National and no disbelief will be again after currently the leaderboard had been incited upside down in a flash. Westwood was unexpected spin with Mickelson and would shortly tumble a cadence behind. Poulter, who had been second on the 11th hole, was falling out of sight. Almost simultaneously, Fred Couples, the personality after the initial round, bounced at the behind of in to the plea with an eagle on the 15th. A spook on the last resolved his 68.
Mickelson had not accomplished his charge, however. His third shot at the par-five 15th looked as if it competence go in for an rare third uninterrupted eagle. It didnt, but the birdie was morality and gave him a shortlived lead.
How Westwood and Poulter, stumbling in a state of shell-shock, could reply to such remarkable reversals would be vicious for their careers, short-term and long-term. They fought commendably, Poulter creation a birdie on the 13th, Westwood an additional on the 15th.
The worth of that birdie was shortly apparent, for Mickleson, carrying catapulted himself in to the lead, constructed to rope afar his advantage.
His expostulate on the 17th was pulled and he left himself with no pick but to fool around to a piece of the immature from where 3 putts were likely, and indeed happened. On the 18th, he shut off his second shot and did intensely well to get up and down.
The early exchanges pitted American charge opposite English resilience. When Poulter and Westwood arrived on the initial tee, a peek at the leaderboard would have told them that Mickelson had done birdies at the first 3 holes to put himself in organisation contention. And usually prior to Westwood launched his initial expostulate of the day, a bark from the initial immature gave him the observable headlines that Woods had non-stop with a birdie.
Poulters and Westwoods drives from that initial tee were not auspicious.
For dual days they had been on foot down the center of fairways after their balls. Now Poulter bending his on to the ninth fairway and Westwood pulled his in to the left semi-rough.
It was great whilst it lasted, pronounced a desperate English voice from the side of the fairway. His arrogance was premature, for both Englishmen done amends. Poulter brought off an proceed shot over 3 magnolia trees to the heart of the green. That was a great save for par.
Westwoods begin was even improved for settling his nerves. He additionally found the middle of the immature and from a little twenty-five feet swayed his putt to dump in to the right side of the hole as the movement expired.
Over the front nine, the threats were viewable and illustrious. Woods and Mickelson, the dual majority dangerous championship players alive, were knocking in early birdies and undermining the English position. But not for long: Woods pulled his tee shot extravagantly left on the short fourth, that cost him a stroke, and Mickelson erred likewise on the sixth.
Westwood showed how the fourth can be mastered. A glorious iron shot over the front fort left him a putt of eight feet, that he rolled in for a birdie. He was 10 underneath par, heading by dual strokes.
Westwood done usually one blunder prior to the turn. His tee shot on the seventh was left, but he had a cut of fitness for his round came to rest in between dual stands of trees. He usually had sufficient room to glow his proceed over the second mount to the green. He still indispensable the haughtiness to penetrate an eight-foot second putt for his par, but he never flinched and the round fell in, passed centre.
Poulter, meanwhile, was fighting to save a measure notwithstanding a awful bent to offshoot his drives. To reach the spin in spin standard was a vigilance achievement. Westwood incited in 33, the majority appropriate between the contenders, with a three-stroke lead, that he spread out to 4 on the 10th. Then the fun began.
Westwoods opening amounts to a transformation, for in his prior 10 visits to Augusta National, he had usually twice damaged 70. Yet he right afar stands on the starting point of apropos the initial man to mangle 70 in all 4 rounds.
It was Westwoods caddie, Billy Foster, who was instrumental in assisting Westwood to supplement the clever lurch of ruthlessness that has been clear in this event. Last November, Westwood and Foster attended a beach celebration together. After a couple of beers, Foster was emboldened to verbalise his mind to his employer. He told Westwood that he indispensable to do more, to dominate, to be the boss.
Foster feared that his outspokenness would get him the sack. But Westwood listened and took it on board. Two days later, Westwood won the Dubai World Championship by 6 strokes and was crowned as Europes player of the year.
Now that steel-hard perspective has to be practical again today, and in the majority fraught of circumstances.
