Leishman trying to end Aussie drought at Masters

Last year at this time, Marc Leishman was in pursuit of something green, but it wasn’t a jacket.

Instead, the Australian was trying to secure his green card.

He was successful, getting it shortly after playing in the British Open. He hadn’t even tried to qualify for the British, not wanting to jeopardize his chances, but got “paroled” after securing a berth when he won last year’s Traveler’s Championship.

“I got that all resolved,” said Leishman, who had been in the U.S. on a P-1A visa as an internationally recognized athlete, though his wife, Audrey, is American and his son, Harvey, was born in the U.S. “I’m good for 10 years now, I think.”

Whether he’s just as successful in attaining the green jacket awarded to the Masters Tour­nament champion remains to be seen. But after his 6-under 66 in Thursday’s opening round propelled Leishman into a share of the lead in the year’s first major, he’s off to as good a start as he could have hoped for.

“To be here is awesome,” Leish­man said. “But you know, it’s only Thursday afternoon, so a lot of golf to play. But I feel good about my game.”

A great day also helped Leish­man feel a whole lot better than he has in the month leading up to the Masters.

Battling what he called a combination of a viral infection and allergies, Leishman said he felt about 90 percent and has lost considerable weight from his 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame.

The results have indicated that: Leishman missed the cut in his two tournaments leading into the Masters. In fact, since tying for ninth at the Sony Open in January, Leishman hasn’t posted a finish better than a tie for 38th.

“I haven’t been feeling great, but when I woke up this morning, I felt pretty good,” Leishman said. “It’s funny when you’ve been sick and then you feel good, it’s ‘How good do I feel?’ It was good that it worked out that today was the first day I’ve felt half-decent.”

Despite feeling well, there was hardly any hint Leishman would turn things around Thursday on the course. In his only other Masters appearance in 2010, Leishman missed the cut after shooting 72-79.

That year, Leishman acknowledged being a little “like a deer in the headlights,” which contributed to his quick exit.

“I found myself looking around a bit too much and not concentrating on getting the ball in the hole, which is what you need to do,” he said. “I would find myself thinking about what I’d seen on TV as a kid.

“Like I’d think about Freddie Couples’ ball staying up on the bank on 12. Or someone chipping in on the right-hand side of 11. Just things like that, that I probably should have come here a few more times before the tournament so I didn’t do that.”

Those memories of past Masters included watching his Aussie hero Greg Norman have a Masters title slip away in 1996. No Australian has won the Masters, and Leishman now finds himself in position to end that drought.

“It would be huge, obviously,” Leishman said. “But there’s a lot of golf left, a lot of hurdles to clear.

“But if I can keep playing the way I’m playing, keep holing the crucial par putts and just putting the way I have been, there’s no reason why not.”