Sunday, April 13, 2008

Masters Live Blog: Round 4

Will Tiger earn his come-from-behind victory in a major? Will Vanderbilt grad Brandt Snedeker win his first green jacket? Will third-round leader Trevor Immelman hang on for the title? We're about to find out. I'll be posting comments throughout the final round of the Masters so don't forget to hit that refresh button and feel free to leave your comments below.

(For a much better live blog than this one, check ESPN.com's golf editor Jason Sobel here).

1:40 p.m.: Not a good start for Immelman or Snedeker as they both bogeyed the first hole. I can only imagine how nervous the two of them must be. Playing in the final pairing at Augusta National in the nation's most prestigious tournament? Just unreal.

1:43 p.m.: Here's a quick look at the leaderboard:

1. Immelman -10
2. Flesch -8
3. Snedeker -8
4. Casey -7
5. Cink -6
6. Woods -5

1:45 p.m.: Tiger can't seem to get the putter rolling and has parred the first two holes. Meanwhile, his unassuming playing partner, Stewart Cink, has recorded back-to-back birdies and is now 6-under.

1:49 p.m.: CBS points out that this is the first time since 2000 the same players were in the final pairing in the third and fourth rounds.

2:01 p.m.: Woods just missed another birdie putt on No. 3 and you can sense his frustration mounting.

2:05 p.m.: Snedeker just eagled the second, drawing a rousing ovation from the crowd. He gave a quick Tigeresque fist pump as the ball dropped into the cup, and is now tied for the lead at 10-under. Man, that was a pretty putt...

2:11 p.m.: Woods' par putt just lipped out and he's 4-under through four holes, six shots behind Immelman and Snedeker. I wonder if the youngsters are keeping track of Tiger, who is danger of taking himself out of contention.

2:14 p.m.: CBS just reported that Snedeker, a Nashville native, has about 90 friends and family in the gallery. I can only imagine the celebration they'd have if he won (and no, I do not believe in the blog jinx).

2:17 p.m.: Baseball update: Vanderbilt 2 Mississippi State 0 after two innings. Third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit a solo shot in the first and centerfielder David Macias had a RBI single in the second.

2:22 pm.: Snedeker's drive on the third landed in the bunker, and he had to settle for a bogey. You've got to love his character, though, as even after his par putt narrowly missed, Snedeker walked off the green with a big grin on his face.

2:26 p.m.: The conditions are brutal, the players are nervous and the scores are down (only four of 45 players are under par today). Here's a look at the leaderboard with the final round results in parentheses.

1. Immelman -10 (+1)
2. Snedeker -9 (E)
3. Flesch -8 (E)
4. Casey -6 (+1)
5. Cink -5 (-1)
6. Harrington -4 (-2)
6. Woods -4 (+1)

2:34 p.m.: Immelman and Snedeker parred the fourth, while Woods birdied the sixth to move within five shots of the lead.

2:44 p.m.: First time I learned that Snedeker and Chicago Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer were good friends growing. Both attended Montgomery Bell Academy, I believe.

2:50 p.m.: Immelman and Snedeker don't like they're going anywhere as they are 11-under and 9-under, respectively. Flesch is third at 8-under, while Woods and Cink are still in the mix at 5-under.

2:59 p.m.: From Sobel's blog over at ESPN:

"I'll throw it out there right now. Any of the top four players -- Immelman, Snedeker, Flesch or Casey -- shoots 68, he'll win a green jacket."

3:01 p.m.: Baseball update: Vandy up 3-2 over Miss. State in the fifth. Nick Christiani has given up just two hits, although one was a homer.


3:02 p.m.: Snedeker had a big par putt here and he pushed it left to fall to 8-under. Yet, he's still got that smile on his face. Flesch, meanwhile, dropped to 7-under, which puts Snedeker all alone in second.

3:11 p.m.: Trevor Immelman continues to play out of his mind, sticking his approach on No. 7 to a few feet, while Snedeker's shot landed in the front bunker. As for Eldrick, he missed another birdie putt on No. 8 and remains six back.

3:18 p.m.: Snedeker bogeyed the seventh, but received a big break as Immelman missed his short birdie putt. The South African still has a commanding 4-shot lead, but five sure would have been nice...Let's see if the former Commodore can keep his composure after back-to-back bogeys.

3:27 p.m.: Tiger shot an even-par 36 on the front nine and remains six back. If he's not going to put pressure on Immelman, I wonder who will. It doesn't look like anyone wants to right now.

3:38 p.m.: Immelman missed his par putt to fall back to 10-under, two ahead of Flesch and three up on Snedeker. He hasn't looked comfortable on the last two holes so it will be interesting to see how he responds.

3:50 p.m.: The number of contenders continues to dwindle as there are just four golfers within six shots of the lead. Snedeker can't make a putt and is now 6-under, four back of Immelman, who just recorded a huge par save on No. 9. Hate to be a downer here, but this has been a pretty boring afternoon...Hopefully the back nine will be better.

4:00 p.m.: No one in the last eight pairings is under par today. Let that sink in.

4:14 p.m.: Is it bad that I want to take a nap right now?

4:16 p.m.: I just woke up the roar on No. 11 after Woods drained a very long putt. There's still time for Tiger, who's five back with seven to play, to make a charge.

4:28 p.m.: Leaderboard Update:

1. Immelman -10
2. Flesch -8
3. Snedeker -6
4. Woods -5
5. 3 Tied at -2

4:37 p.m.: Flesch picked up a double bogey on No. 12 after hitting his tee shot in the water to drop back to 6-under with Snedeker.

4:40 p.m.: Snedeker bogeyed No. 11 to drop to 5-under. To think he was 10-under after the eagle on No. 2. The ex-Dore is +4 on the day and tied with Tiger for third place.

4:45 p.m.: Tiger hit a great shot from the trees and an even better approach, but missed a four-foot birdie putt on No. 13, which would've put him in great position, especially since Immelman's tee shot on No. 12 went far left. Tiger has to make that putt.

4:55 p.m.: Some may say Snedeker, but I'm not buying. He just buried a difficult birdie putt to move to 6-under, just three back of Immelman, who bogeyed the hole.

5:00 p.m.: It might be over for Tiger and he has no one to blame but himself. He just three-putted No. 14 for a bogey and now find himself five back with four to play. It will take nothing short of a miracle to win now.

5:07 p.m.: Snedeker just hit a shot that he'll replay in his mind for a long time. He hit his approach on No. 13 to the right and into the creek like he did yesterday, the one place he was trying to avoid. Immelman just stuck his within a few feet after laying up on his second shot. That could be all she wrote for the former Commodore, who has performed admirably all week.

5:13 p.m.: Snedeker had a chance to save par, but missed right (he thought it would break left) and is now 5-under and five back with five holes to play.

5:18 p.m: Tiger missed another birdie putt on No. 15 to remain six back. You know he's going to beat himself up over this performance, as he should.

5:23 p.m.: Some good news on bad day for fans of Tiger and the Commodores -- the Vandy baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Mississippi State, winning 4-3 behind a solid outing from junior Nick Christiani.

5:26 p.m.: Have to give Immelman a lot of credit for his play throughout the tournament. Here are some numbers (brough to you by Jason Sobel at ESPN):

• Driving distance: 292.7 yards. (Rank: 3)
• Driving accuracy: 86.5 percent. (Rank: 1)
• Greens in regulation: 73.13 percent. (Rank: 1)
• Total putts: 1.55 per hole. (Rank: 4)

5:27 p.m.: Snedeker bogeyed again and he's now at 4-under along with Cink, Flesch and Woods, six behind Immelman. Safe to say they're locked in a battle for second place.

5:52 p.m.: Perhaps I spoke too soon. Immelman's tee shot on No. 16 landed in the water, which means he'll have a difficult two-putt for double bogey. Assuming Snedeker makes par, the South African will have a three-shot lead with two holes to play.

5:55 p.m.: Tiger birdies the 18th, but his expression seemed to say, "too little too late." He shot an even-par 72 today and finished the tournament 5-under. Cink ended up 4-under.

5:57 p.m.: Immelman makes double but Snedeker just missed his par putt and drops to 4-under. It's been a long day for the former Dore, but I have no doubt that he's learned a great deal from this experience. We will see him here again in the future.

6:13 p.m.: Immelman could not be more nervous, but he managed to make par on No. 17 and takes a three-shot lead to No. 18. I've got to take off (I would stick around if it was closer), but I just wanted to say that Snedeker represented Vanderbilt well this week and has a very fine career ahead of himself. Thanks to all of you for reading and enjoy the rest of your Sunday night.

1 comment:

David Rutz said...

Snedeker was a great ambassador for Vanderbilt this week; even though he didn't win, he definitely won over a lot of fans with his terrific attitude throughout the tournament, plus finishing 3rd place isn't too shabby.

Hats off to Brandt for a job well done.