A tough, difficult day in Augusta. Once again. Nothing new. A day with very little wind, which meant that all the difficulties presented were on the course. The overbearing greens at Augusta reclaimed their status as small monsters.They've never been a thing to toy with, but it's true that for some time they were laying dormant and seemed to let up a bit. Not today. They were real hard and real fast, impossible.
Being the way things were, and most of all during the late afternoon sessions, the main objective was to survive, and Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño was one of the few who managed to get by. He fought and navigated his way very well through the tenacious conditions of the game. He didn't even miss one shot, the shot off the tee on the 2nd, which cost him a bogey, but the rest went by the book. He avoided difficult situations at all cost and rounded up mostly pars, one after another. He could have landed one other birdie, yes, but the putter, although without being a handicap, didn't make for any miracles either. He missed the greens and made three bogeys. But at least he made out with the perfect shot on the 18th. He used an 8-iron from the middle of the fairway from 151 meters away, and left the ball just two hand lengths away from the hole for the first official birdie of this previously sore spot for the Madrid native.
Finally, Gonzalo finished with a 74 for a total of +2. He made it to the top 20 of the tournament, continuing to climb his way up, and there's no turning back now. “There are a lot of things to fight for tomorrow, the top ten or securing a spot in next year's tournament to mention a few. I played really well today, and I'm satisfied with my game. I was better off the tee and was solid with the irons. The only thing I would like to have improved were the par-5s, which I played 2 above par. The rest was good,” Gonzalo explains.
As far as the tournament goes, the current leaders are Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson (-5) with a one-shot advantage over Matt Kuchar and Jonas Blixt, and two over Míguel Ángel Jiménez and Rickie Fowler. The rankings are tight, with fifteen players separated by only five shots.
