In the quest for greatness, athletes will biopsy muscles, employ faith healers, wear lucky thong underwear and apparently clamber onto snooker tables to practise their putting. At least this is what Ian Woosnam reportedly did before he won the Masters in 1991.
Sitting in a cafe in Singapore, Daniel Chopra, the leading putter on the USPGA Tour in 2006, is laughing. Evidently inspired, he did it himself. Before he travelled to Augusta National in 2008, he stepped onto his pool table and hit short putts. Then, for fun, he rolled a few putts down his marble floor at home in Orlando. Then he missed the cut.
Nothing quite prepares anyone for the greens of Augusta. Not even 21 trips to the place. Ask Ernie Els. On his first hole on Thursday he had six putts - the longest was roughly three feet - and emerged with the glazed look of a man who had just watched six hours of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Welcome to the Masters: mayhem at Magnolia Lane.
In 1988, Seve Ballesteros, who turned clubs into wands, four-putted from less than five metres and offered an economical explanation: "I miss, I miss, I miss, I make." No one dares smirk for no one is immune. Not even Tiger Woods who won in 1997 without a single three-putt. In 2005, he putted for eagle at the 13th and ended up in Rae's Creek.
