Si Woo Kim leans on his 3-wood, which he used as his putter, after ruining his putter on the 15th hole Friday at Augusta National. Matt Slocum/Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Si Woo Kim acknowledges that he has broken clubs out of frustration before, with one very significant caveat.
“Not on the course,” Kim said.
He can’t say that anymore — and had to play the final four holes of his second round of the Masters without his putter.
Kim smashed his putter head-first into the turf at Augusta National after a poor chip on the par-5 15th hole Friday, bending the shaft and rendering the club unusable. He two-putted for par there with his 3-wood, then made three more routine two-putts to end his round.
He shot a 3-under 69 on Friday, getting to 4 under for the week, three shots back of leader Justin Rose.
Kim was coming off a bogey on the par-4 14th when his mood went south. The South Korean – the 2017 Players Championship winner – played his second shot at the 14th to just off the back of the green, then elected to use his putter from there for his third. He rolled the ball within 5 feet, then didn’t have enough speed on the par attempt and watched it lip out.
Then came the 15th, when his chip went past the hole. He slammed the putter not long afterward.
“Just frustration, like 14, 15 chip,” Kim said. “That’s not on purpose, but it was broken, yeah.”
Kim used the wood again on the par-3 16th, narrowly missing a birdie opportunity and making another par. He stayed with it the rest of the way, choosing it over a sand wedge – which some players, without a putter, may prefer.
“I think sand wedge (is) harder and hard to … control,” Kim said, noting that’s especially the case on the fast greens of Augusta National.
NO AMATEURS are playing the weekend at the Masters.
Ollie Osborne was the low amateur, his score of 8-over 152 beating Joe Long (154) and Tyler Strafaci (161).
“One of the main things I learned is not everybody’s perfect,” Osborne said. “I played with the world’s best, and you don’t have to do everything perfect. You just kind of go about your game and do your thing. These guys are obviously really good, but I’m not that far off.
It’s the first time since 2015 that no amateur has made the cut. But there were plenty of memories – such as staying in the Crow’s Nest atop the Augusta National clubhouse and getting to play 36 holes in arguably the most storied tournament in the world.
“Some bits of advice from the world’s best golfers, that kind of sticks with me,” Long said. “The amateur dinner, like that experience is just so special. The Crow’s Nest, all those things, they’re memories for life. At the end of the day, you can tell your family about it, and that’s pretty amazing.”
CAMERON SMITH and Hideki Matsuyama are the only players with multiple eagles this week.
They each had one Thursday, then repeated the feat Friday. Both made a 3 on the par-5 13th in the second round.
Smith eagled the 15th on Thursday. Matsuyama’s first-round eagle came at No. 8.
PATRICK REED, by his standards, did terribly at the par-3 16th hole on Friday.
He made par.
Reed had made six consecutive birdies at the 16th before Friday, a run that started in the final round of the 2019 Masters.
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