AUGUSTA - Louis Oosthuizen became the second player to withdrawn from the Masters due to injury. Oosthuizen withdrew prior to his second round on Friday.
Oosthuizen shot a 4-over par 76 in the opening round on Thursday. The injury was not disclosed, but he has dealt with back problems this year.
Tiger Woods and Joaquin Niemann will play as a twosome on Friday.
Oosthuizen has been a consistent finisher at Augusta National. He was making his 14th appearance and has made the cut in the eight straight tournaments. He has six top-25 finishes. His best finish was a second in 2012 when he lost a playoff to Bubba Watson.
Schwartzel visits memory lane to shoot 69
Forget Magnolia Lane. Charl Schwartzel credits a trip down Memory Lane for reversing his season-long troubles and now finds himself in contention after 36 holes at the Masters.
While taking a couple weeks off from the PGA Tour, where he had missed six straight cuts, Schwartzel re-watched every shot had taken while winning the 2011 Masters. He repeatedly savored the memory of having Adam Scott slip the green jacket over his shoulders.
“I worked on the swing and I was just trying to erase all the last couple of weeks, the results,” Schwartzel said.
Schwartzel followed his even-par first round with a 3-under 69 on Tuesday. It was only the fourth time he’s scored in the 60s in the 34 rounds at Augusta National since winning the tournament. The lack of success was starting to get into his head.
“I think that’s what’s been going wrong,” Schwartzel said. “Mind is too active and I really worked hard in staying in the present and just trying to execute a golf shot and not to worry about what can go wrong.”
One more year for Lyle
Sandy Lyle plans to play one more year as a competitor at the Masters.
The 64-year-old Lyle, the 1988 Masters champion, said following Friday’s second round that his time is near an end as he lamented his lack of length on the course. He said he is hitting 7-irons into greens where others are hitting wedges.
“It’s a big difference,” Lyle said. “That’s what you expect. I’m not 21 anymore, and the club head speed is going down rapidly in the last sort of ten years. ... I think probably next year might be the end of the Lyle attack on the golf course.”
Lyle said the “end of the day” will come next year as his older and younger sons plan to be in attendance and they will make his farewell a family affair.
Lyle, who played in his 100th major this week, has played in 41 Masters. He missed the cut this year after rounds of 82-76 for a 14-over par tournament.
Need for speed
-The early week rain may have put a damper on Augusta National’s plan to speed up the course. According to Lyle, chairman Fred Ridley said the fairways are sand-based in an effort to encourage speed, a part of the defense of the course. “They want the ball to run and be faster, and, of course, with this rain it didn’t do that at all,” Lyle said.
-Stan Awtrey and Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.
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