Two-time Masters champion Tom Watson received applause on every hole during the second round of the Masters Tournament. But he was playing for more than ceremonial reasons: After a first-round 77, the 62-year-old was even-par through 15 holes and could have made the 5-over cut by playing the last three holes in even par.
Instead, he bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18 for 74 and finished 7-over.
“They’re all too nice,” Watson said of the patrons at Augusta National Golf Club. “I had very warm receptions in a lot of places. It was particularly nice at No. 12. When you’ve been around out here as long as I have, people remember you.”
When Watson was asked how many more Masters he would enter, he said, “I don’t know … that’s a good question.”
Playing partner Johnson Wagner said anyone could have learned by touring Augusta National for 18 holes with the Hall of Famer.
“He stays patient … his mood never changes,” said Wagner, who also missed the cut but got nipped by Watson by two strokes. “It was a great experience to play with him.”
Watson was playing hard to make the weekend for a second time in three years.
“I hit a bad drive at No. 17 and then at 18 I hit my drive a little bit right but it was in the mud and I had to cut it around the tree with a 3-wood. I just didn’t have that shot. It’s disappointing … very disappointing because I knew what I had to do and I didn’t do it.”
