Adam Scott has been left ruing his poor performance with his broomstick putter at the Masters one year after it almost carried him to the title.
Last year, runner-up Scott had only one three-putt – on the very first hole – and averaged 1.54 putts per round at Augusta National soon after switching to the long-handled putter.
Three rounds into the 2012 Masters, Scott was tied for 32nd at two-over par, 11 shots adrift of the lead due mainly to six three-putt greens.
The Queenslander was ranked equal last in the remaining field for three-putts while his average of 1.8 putts a hole was 57th out of 62.
“I hit it beautiful today but was no good on the greens so it’s disappointing,” Scott said after carding a 73.
“I only missed three greens but shot one over which is just pathetic really.
“Good putts are missing and obviously bad ones miss too so not very encouraging out there.
“It’s hard to play like that. You’re better off hitting it terrible and making everything for one over as you feel a lot better.”
To hammer the point home, Scott was tied sixth in the field in greens in regulation.
“I have had a poor week on the greens because I haven’t judged the speed very well and because the speed’s a bit off I haven’t read them as well as I did last year,” he said.
“That seems to be the difference this year. My first four putts today I hit perfect, just how I wanted and every one of them missed.
“When you are just slightly off it’s always magnified here no matter what part of the game it is.”
With a green jacket out of reach, Sunday became a chance to finally put everything together.
A finish inside the top 16 results in an invitation to the 2013 Masters, a realistic goal as he was just four shots off the mark.
“I’ve just got to try and have a good day out there tomorrow,” Scott said.
“You don’t get any better conditions to play Augusta then this.
“There are going to be some gettable pins and I’m hitting it good so I’d like to take advantage of it one day.
“I haven’t been able to put it all together yet so it’s been frustrating.
“So if I can just put a good score on the board tomorrow I might back door a top 10 or something.”
