3 minute read
Australia's Cam Davis and Min Woo Lee have shown their character to make the cut under tough conditions in their Masters debut at Augusta National.
All hail Cam Davis and Min Woo Lee after Australia's daring young guns showed their steel to survive the Masters cut on debut.
Davis and Lee both advanced on the number at four over par after fearless finishes to their pressure-filled, windswept second rounds at Augusta National.
Davis looked to be gone after slipping to eight over through 11 holes before rallying with four birdies in his last six holes to earn himself an unlikely weekend tee time with a tenacious one-over 73 in brutal conditions.
Lee's three-over 75 in the howling wind gusts was also just enough to extend his maiden Masters.
"It's unbelievable," the 23-year-old said.
"It's an amazing feeling. My dad runs a cafe back home and he left on Monday to get here. I didn't want to just play two days for him.
"So it was for the family and for my team. A lot of grinding out there, so I'm happy."
Lee conceded he didn't even realise he'd only made the cut courtesy of a brilliant birdie at the famous par-3 16th and scrambling par at No.17.
"I thought there was a 10-shot rule cut thing still," he said.
"So before 15, I was like, 'Oh, I'm actually not too bad. I've still got a few shots to give'.
"Now that I know it was just top 50 and cut, I've got to give myself a pat on the back because that was a really good finish. But it was pretty funny.
"I gave my mum a hug and dad a hug, and it's really, really nice. You work hard to get to this point. Just made it into the top 50 at the end of the year to get into the tournament.
"Getting into the tournament's a good achievement, but to actually play well, it's another step."
Adam Scott and Marc Leishman were less thrilled about the manner in which they survived.
Scott had roared into contention, just three shots off the lead, with an eagle at the second only to see his hopes of a second green jacket sink with a triple-bogey eight on the 15th.
The 2013 champion needed a sand save on the last to make his 13th consecutive cut - the second longest streak at Augusta National behind only Tiger Woods' 22 in a row.
At four over following his second straight 74, Scott is a distant 12 shots behind Scheffler.
As is Leishman after a frustrating 75.
"I played really well. I mean, I don't know what the longest putt I made was but it couldn't have been longer than three feet," he said.
"A bit of work to do on that but I've played well enough to make it to the weekend. Hopefully I can do something silly on the weekend and shoot a couple of real low ones and see what happens."