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AUGUSTA, Ga., April 6 — True to form, the pretty-but-deadly par-3 12th hole, Golden Bell, dished out another spate of bogeys, double-bogeys and "others" in the second round of the 2007 Masters on Friday.
Tiger Woods was lucky to make bogey. Stuart Appleby and Fred Couples made double-bogey. Chris DiMarco came totally unglued with a triple-bogey six.
Historically, the 12th has been the second-hardest hole at Augusta, thanks largely to fickle winds that were fooling players again Friday afternoon.
"The nine-iron at 12, the wind got it," said Woods, whose tee shot came after Paul Casey's near hole-in-one and bounded off the bank in front of the green, rolling back into Rae's Creek. Woods got up-and-down to minimize the damage on the way to shooting a two-over-par 74.
David Toms shot a six-over 78 on Friday, including a double-bogey on 12. "I played yesterday with basically no wind, and today it was definitely a factor," he said.
His decision process on the tee was typical of the hole's treachery. Playing in a threesome with Camilo Villegas and Trevor Immelman, Toms was the last in his group to hit after making a five on the par-4 11th. Villegas went first and hit a nine-iron true and just the right distance, 142 yards onto the green. Toms was encouraged, he said, since, "142 is just a perfect 9-iron for me.
"Then Immelman stepped up," Toms continued, "hit a really solid 9-iron, didn't even sniff it, came up short right in the water. So I hit an 8, tried to hit it up nice and high and stop it on the green, and the wind came up, [and the ball went] right in the water."
Like Immelman, Toms glumly accepted his double-bogey. "That's just the way that hole plays," he said.
March Calcavecchia, who parred 12 on Thursday and Friday, may have the right strategy.
"On 12 you've got to snatch a club in a hurry or wait," he said. "Timing is everything on that hole."
