February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
His aggregate 278 (69-66-74-69) left him three strokes behind Robert-Jan Derksen. Still, this was his best showing on this circuit since he tied for third in the 1996 BMW International Open.
Higgins began his charge into contention on Friday, when he ran off three consecutive birdies beginning on the second hole. After playing to par on 5 and 6, he went on another birdie skein, this time coming in under the number on 7, 8, 9 and 10. He then played the course even until 18, where he suffered his only bogey of the day.
Saturday saw Higgins stumble with bogeys on 2 and 3. He was limited to one birdie, that on 7, and he again finished up with a bogey on 18. His only miscue on Sunday came on 16, when he picked up a bogey-6. That stroke kept him from gaining a piece of second place.
South of Higgins on the leaderboard stood Gary Murphy, tied for 44th place at 289 (68-71-78-72), and Peter Lawrie, among a group in 57th place at 292 (69-75-76-72). Falling on the wrong side of the cut line (which was set at 144) were Damien McGrane, 145 (72-73), Philip Walton, 150 (76-74), Michael Hoey, 152 (74-78), and Stephen Browne, 153 (74-79).
MASTERS
The Irish trio had little to offer in this year’s renewal at Augusta National. Darren Clarke was the only one to make the cut, sharing 17th place at even-par 288 (72-76-69-71). The low score of 276 belonged to Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco, who settled matters in a one-hole playoff to Woods’s advantage. This was Clarke’s second-best finish in this event, topped only by his eighth-place finish in 1998 on his first trip to Augusta.
Both Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell carded 149 for 36 holes, which was just one stroke above the number needed to continue on. Harrington played well enough in the first round, shooting an even-par 72. His second round, which began on the 10th tee, was plagued by a double-bogey 6 on 11, followed by three more bogeys before he made the turn. He was even over the front nine.
McDowell, a Masters rookie, began the first round at the 10th tee and endured some jitters as he went eight strokes over par in his first 10 holes. He settled down, though, with a pair of birdies before finishing off with a bogey on 9 to card 79 for his first time around Augusta. The second round found a more confident McDowell finishing two under par at 70.