Free Faldo/Norman by Andy Farrell Page A

to play golf but I didn’t take advantage of the par-fives.’
    It was the sort of day in golfing heaven when the roars rattled around the cathedral of pines. They all sound different, echoing back up the hill towards the clubhouse, depending on who is involved. You could feel the love for Palmer but Nicklaus always got the loudest roars. Norman recreated some noise on this afternoon, but those following Fred Couples were unusually quiet as the Players champion and pre-tournament favourite started with a 78. Couples was already 15 strokes behind and after the roundhis fiancée Tawnya Dodds, in reference to his generosity in offering his back therapist to the leader, remarked: ‘You picked one hell of a time to make Greg Norman feel like a million bucks.’
    Phil Mickelson was already building a fan club and one of the biggest cheers of the day came when he hit a six-iron to two feet at the final hole. He tapped in for a seven-under 65, another record score, the lowest ever by a left-hander in any major, beating the previous mark of 66 first scored by Bob Charles. He held the clubhouse lead until Norman posted nine under. This was only Mickelson’s fourth appearance in the Masters but the patrons were already getting to know, and appreciate, his attacking style of golf and he was getting to know, and appreciate, when and how to attack Augusta.
    ‘When I first came here,’ he said, ‘I felt like I should be firing at every pin. I’ve picked up little things over time. Now I know firing at a pin might mean being eight feet away so that I have an uphill putt.’ An example of how easy it is to get out of position came at the 4th. He missed the green in the bunker on the left and although he came out to four feet it was a downhill putt. With the swiftness of the greens, he tried to dribble it in but it wandered off line for his only bogey of the round.
    Like Norman, Mickelson came home in 30 with five birdies in the last six holes. He made a four at the 15th with help from a practice round the previous day when Ben Crenshaw had shown him how some putts on that green curve in the opposite direction to that in which they appear to break. ‘I’m glad I helped somebody today,’ said the defending champion after a 77 in which the normally supreme putter took 32 blows on the greens. Mickelson thought he was quite fortunate with his score. ‘It was deceptive,’ he said. ‘The golf course is not playing to a seven-under round. I felt if I could shoot one, two, three under par, it was going to be a good round. I had a couple of opportunities where the ballended up below the hole and I was able to be aggressive. It was a fortunate round.’
    Norman must have been even more fortunate but there were plenty of high scores to prove conditions were hardly easy. As well as the 78 by Couples and the 77 by Crenshaw, there was a 76 for the winner of the previous major, Steve Elkington, and 75s by Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin and Woods. Tom Watson also had a 75 but had seemed on course for something better until a five-putt on the 16th green. The hole was cut in a diabolical spot, back right of the green just off a ridge and Watson twice knocked putts past the hole from the upper terrace all the way down to the front of the green.
    Bob Tway and Scott Hoch scored 67s, while Lee Janzen was on 68. Alongside Nick Faldo on 69 was his compatriot, David Gilford, along with Singh, Scott Simpson and Brad Faxon. With Nicklaus on 70 were Ray Floyd, Jay Haas and Paul Azinger, who was still regaining form and consistency after being treated for lymphoma in the shoulder following his victory at the 1993 US PGA.
    Frank Nobilo, who had missed a number of weeks earlier in the season with back problems, opened with a 71 having played the first two holes on his own. Peter Jacobsen, his intended playing partner, withdrew with sore ribs just before their tee time. A marker was found for Nobilo for the last 16 holes in the form of Jim Holtgrieve, the former US