Hideki Matsuyama
by Sean Martin
AUGUSTA, Ga. (April 6, 2012) -– Kelly Kraft
and Patrick Cantlay extended their stays in the
Crow’s Nest, while Hideki
Matsuyama continued to impress at Augusta
National. Three amateurs made the cut at the
Masters, the most since
2003.
Hideki Matsuyama, the two-time Asian Amateur
champ, will enter the weekend with a four-
shot lead over Kraft and
Cantlay as he tries to earn low-amateur honors
for the second consecutive year.
Matsuyama is tied for 31st overall at 1-over
145 (71-74). Cantlay (71-78) and Kraft (74-
75) are tied for 57th,
beneficiaries of the Masters’ 10-shot rule. The
Masters cut is to the low 45 and ties and
anyone within 10 shots of
the lead. Cantlay and Kraft made the cut
because of the latter.
“I had three goals before I came here, and the
first one was to make the cut,” Matsuyama
said. “The second was to
have a better score than I did last year. And
the third one is to be in the top 16 and ties so
that I could come back
next year.”
Matsuyama finished 27th at last year’s
Masters, the best showing by an amateur
since 2005.
This year’s amateur contingent at Augusta was
especially strong. Cantlay (1), Matsuyama (4)
and Kraft (7) all rank
inside the top seven of the R&A’s World
Amateur Golf Ranking. For Cantlay, a UCLA
sophomore, it was his second
consecutive made cut in a major (T-21, 2011
U.S. Open) and sixth made cut in seven PGA
Tour starts.
“I still feel a little rusty out on the golf
course,” Cantlay said. “I haven’t played a
bunch of tournaments and so I just
think playing the full schedule this spring at
college events, I’ll get really sharp and
comfortable out there.”
Cantlay also is exempt into the next two
majors, the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
Kraft made an 8-foot bogey putt on his final
hole to make the cut on the number. Making
the cut here will help Kraft,
who is turning pro immediately after the
Masters, as he seeks sponsor exemptions.
Valero Texas Open tournament
officials told Golfweek that they extended Kraft
an exemption Thursday night. The event,
scheduled for April 19-22 in
San Antonio, likely will be his pro debut. Kraft,
an SMU alumnus from Denton, Texas, also
received invitations to the
two PGA Tour stops in the Dallas area in May.
More than a dozen of Kraft’s friends and family
cheered as he emerged from the scoring area
late Friday. “I just
wasn’t going to give up,” said Kraft, who was 4
over for his first 10 holes this week.
Making the Masters cut has another benefit: It
exempts players into this year’s Q-School,
which is scheduled to be
the last Q-School that will offer PGA Tour
cards.
British Amateur champion Bryden Macpherson
(77-76), U.S. Amateur Public Links winner
Corbin Mills (74-81) and U.S.
Mid-Amateur champion Randal Lewis (81-78)
missed the cut.
ABOUT THE
The Masters
One of Golf's four professional majors
traditionally invites amateurs who have reached
the
finals of the US Amateur, or won the British
Amateur
or
the US Mid Amateur. Also included are
the winners of the relatively new Asia Pacific
Amateur
and Latin American Amateur.
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