Darren takes treble bogey in his stride

DARREN Clarke accepted his eight at the 15th in yesterday’s third round with commendable equanimity, pointing out it’s just the kind of thing that happens at Augusta National. How right he was.

Initially, it was famous for the 1935 Masters when Gene Sarazen holed his second shot for an albatross or double eagle to go on and win the title in unlikely circumstances. It became known as “the shot that rang around the world”. Sarazen availed of the three shot gain at the hole to tie Craig Wood on 282 and go on to win the play-off.

More often than not, though, it has broken the heart and spirit of a countless number of Masters contestants, not least Jumbo Ozaki (1987), Ben Crenshaw (1997) and Ignacio Garrido (1998), all of whom have taken eleven there.

Pádraig Harrington spoke early in Masters week of watching on television as Severiano Ballesteros dumped a straightforward wedge shot into the pond to deprive himself of a third green jacket in 1985. And then there was the American Chip Beck who laid up there during the 1993 Masters, which allowed Bernhard Langer to take a grip on the title when the outcome was still very much in the balance. Beck was widely criticised for what many saw as cowardice, took it to heart and little has been heard of him since.