Masters notebook: Johnson’s miscue on 12 dashes green jacket hopes

Dustin Johnson was pretty much where he wanted to be through 11 holes Saturday in the 79^th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

He was 1-under par in the third round and alone in fourth at 8 under for the tournament when he caught a break on the par-3 12^th hole.

His tee shot was short of the green and in danger of rolling back into Rae’s Creek, but it held up in the rough. So Johnson had an opportunity to save par and continue his pursuit of leader Jordan Spieth with a couple par-5s in the next three holes.

But he chunked his chip shot just a few yards into the bunker fronting the 12^th green and was unable to hole a 9-foot bogey putt, making a double bogey and essentially having his hopes for a green jacket dashed.

“[No.] 12 was bad,” the Coastal Carolina alumnus said. “I got fortunate it hung up there on the bunker, just right of the bunker. But it was a tough little chip and it just rolled up the face and then went in the bunker, which is no good. And then I didn't hit a great putt.”

Johnson birdied the par-5 13^th and 15^th holes – he played the par-5s 3 under a day after playing them 7 under with three eagles – to get back to 8 under but bogeyed the final two holes to shoot a 1-over 73. He is tied for fifth, but 10 strokes behind Spieth.

“Twelve definitely stung a little bit, and then actually bogeying the last two holes hurt,” Johnson said. “I just couldn't get anything going today.”

Johnson got off to a decent start Saturday with a near tap-in birdie on the par-5 second hole. He bogeyed the long par-3 fourth after finding a greenside bunker, and birdied the par-3 sixth hole with a quick 15-foot putt, then remained at 8 under through the 11^th hole.

If he can’t chase down Spieth on Sunday, Johnson can at least record his best Masters finish in six appearances. His best to date is a tie for 13^th in 2013 at 1-under 287.

“I have to go out and just try to attack the course. Tomorrow I really need to make a lot of birdies,” Johnson said. “. . . [Spieth] is playing really well. I think I'm a little too far back, but you never know.”

Tiger, Rory make move

Rory McIlroy looked like the No. 1 player in the world for most of the day Saturday, and Tiger Woods rekindled his game of old with emphatic fist pumps, shot-making and clutch putts.

With each teeing off more than 90 minutes before Spieth, they provided some excitement and steadily rose up the third-round leaderboard en route to shooting 4-under 68s and finishing in a tie for fifth at 6-under 210.

McIlroy eagled the second hole and reached 8 under for the tournament and 6 under for his round with his final two birdies on holes 13 and 15, but dropped back with bogeys on 16 and 18.

“I got it to 8‑under par through 15, and then a disappointing finish,” said McIlroy, who was subdued in his post-round press conference.

Woods was 7 under for the tournament with his final birdie on the 15^th but bogeyed the 18^th hole. Woods was bogey-free with five birdies through the 13^th hole.

“I missed a couple shorties on 6 and 7, and I had my chances to make this a really special round today,” Woods said. “Man, I had it going there for a little bit. And I made a stupidly good birdie at 13, and then a stupidly bad bogey at 14.

“It all evens out. If I made a couple more putts the score realistically should have been 6 or 7 [under] today.”

Pink’s the new green

Phil Mickelson wore a pink shirt Saturday, with an ode to four-time Masters winner Arnold Palmer.

“It's not my color, it doesn't look good on me, I don't wear it well, but I had a premonition after spending time with Arnold Palmer,” Mickelson said. “He likes to wear this color. I just had a feeling that I needed to make a move, and I had it in the bag and pulled it out.”

Mickelson shot a 67 to move into third with the pink shirt, but plans to go with his more traditional black shirt on Sunday and adopt the dark knight mentality as he attempts to chase Spieth down.

“I like to wear dark colors on Sunday,” Mickelson said. “I've won three times here wearing black shirts, so I'll wear a black shirt tomorrow.

“It also helps me get more aggressive. Studies have shown, like NFL teams, when they wear black, they have more penalties. That's what I need to do tomorrow is play more aggressive.”

Filling the purse

The purse for the 2015 Masters has been announced at $10 million, up from $9 million last year.

The winner will earn $1.8 million, the runner-up will still break seven figures with $1.08 million, and the player finishing 50^th will earn more than $25,000.

This story was originally published April 11, 2015 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Masters notebook: Johnson’s miscue on 12 dashes green jacket hopes."