What a wonderful finish at Augusta, Sunday was definitely compulsive viewing. The tension and the constantly changing fortunes made for some weird patterns of play.
One minute it appeared that Freddie (Couples) was flying, then he makes a double bogey with a careless shot. No sooner has he been written off than he strikes back with an eagle. David Duval was looking very solid and for a long time I thought he was going to prevail.
However, up comes the big fella, Mark O'Meara, makes two putts at 17 and 18 and the US Masters is his tournament. He's a lovely guy. I bumped into him at Pebble Beach earlier on tour when we found ourselves next to each other on the practice range.
I was driving the ball pretty well that week and he took time out on the range to observe: "you hit the ball a long way for a small chap." We struck up a conversation for about 15 minutes and I found him very pleasant. Our paths accidentally crossed later that night in a restauraunt and again he acknowledged a greeting.
From an Irish perspective I thought Darren Clarke produced a superb debut. At any stage of a career, tied eighth would be a remarkable achievement so to do it on your debut at Augusta is phenomenal.
I was pretty confident that I could get down for one of the days at Augusta but a chance meeting with a couple of friends from New York changed that. One of the guys, Kevin O'Haire, is a lawyer in New York but has a house on the Kiawah Island course so we headed down to the former Ryder Cup venue with a couple of other guys.
I played the Ocean Course twice and really enjoyed the experience, shooting one under the first day and two under on the second: the game is in good shape at the moment. I think my putting touch is sharper.
In the last two or three tournaments, I felt that the putter was only lukewarm and that simply does not suffice at this level. In the Freeport McDermott Classic, I shot a two-under-par 70 in the opening round which should have been four under.
On the second day, the fourth hole cost me a double bogey when I thinned a bunker shot and that, coupled with several putts that hit the hole but stayed out put me in a very negative frame of mind for the rest of the round. I started panicking a little and trying to hit some very tough pin positions.
The one thing that you learn quickly is that patience is the key and that day I didn't adopt the right attitude and ended up with a 76 and missing the cut by two shots. This week I couldn't get anywhere near Hilton Head because of the high profile players that are there so I'm hooking up with the Nike Tour for the Upstate Classic at Greensville.
It's only about a 30-minute drive from where I am staying near my alma mater, Clemson University, so I will drive up each day. My mindset is a bit different this week, I expect to do well. I know I should have the same attitude in the main tour events but that will come eventually.
I believe Keith (Nolan) will be at Greensville too. It's a pleasnt enough venue, lots of trees, fairly tight with sharp undulating greens, nothing daunting. As far as winning is concerned, I am concentrating on four good rounds. There are a good few ex-tour professionals in this, so the competition will be strong.
Once this week is over, I'll probably hit the main tour for four straight weeks, initially taking in the Greater Greensboro, Shell Huston and Bell South. I have set myself objectives and one is to make a bunch of cuts and try and earn $100,000.
Steve Fleche showed with his performance at New Orleans what can be achieved and he pocketed $175,000, virtually guaranteeing his card for next year. That remains my priority. If I am in the hunt come Sunday afternoon then all the better.
The next 48 hours are all about practice and practice rounds and gearing myself for this tournament. The fact that it is so close to home makes it more comfortable and hopefully that might make a difference.
(In an interview with John O'Sullivan)
