The agony Charl Schwartzel felt throughout the third round of the Masters on Saturday was clearly visible as he stood on the tee box of the par-3 12th hole.
The South African, who is the country’s sole remaining player on the weekend at Augusta National Golf Club, had just hit his tee shot to near perfection.
In fact, it was too perfect, as it pitched in the hole but struck the flag and flew out, finally resting about 12 foot from the hole.
In the history of the Masters, there have only been three aces on that hole, and the last was in 1988.
Since then, at least 10,000 rounds of golf have been played, and in none of them has anybody managed to score a hole in one.
As he heard the sound of the ball hitting the flag, Schwartzel looked on incredulous.
It sort of sums up my week. I’ve had the privilege to have the ultimate happiness.
— Charl Schwartzel
He dropped his club, and all he could do was laugh.
“It sort of sums up my week. I’ve had the privilege to have ultimate happiness. Not a lot of people will know what that feels like, but this golf course also burns harder than most.
“I think there’s a big discrepancy between what it gives and what it takes. Like I said, I’ve been fortunate enough to feel what that feels like, but the past few years I feel like I played OK, but it’s been taking a lot.
“There are small margins.”
By the time he reached the 12th hole, the South African was clearly in need of a break.
He was lying on five over for the round and nine over for the tournament.
But instead of taking two shots back with an ace, he played the hole to par and then bogeyed the next.
He scored his only birdie of the day on the 14th and then finished the round with a 77 to stand at nine over for the tournament.
The 41-year-old looked back at what could have been.
“So many one metre this way or that way or a couple, and it ends up being a good tournament vs a very average one.”
Despite not getting the breaks he needed, he acknowledged that he did not play very well on the day.
“I did not play good tee-to-green today [Saturday], but just a lot of things going over the edges and not a lot of stuff going your way, and like I said, this golf course then punishes you hard.”
Schwartzel’s compatriots Casey Jarvis and Aldrich Potgieter missed the cut on Friday, while Schwartzel finished exactly on the right side of the cut line.
Higher up the leaderboard, Rory McIlroy seems destined to become the first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2002 to successfully defend his title.
The Irishman is at 12 under and has a six-shot lead over Sam Burns and Patrick Reed.
The leaders will tee off later Saturday.
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