Masters roars engulfed Bo Van Pelt

The 2011 Masters Tournament had one wild finish – and Bo Van Pelt was right in the middle of it.

Off in the fourth-to-last group of the day, Van Pelt – who was six shots off Rory McIlroy’s 54-hole lead – was positioned to see, hear and participate in the back-nine fireworks.

They included a front-nine charge by Tiger Woods, who eagled the eighth hole and shot 31 on that side, and eventual winner Charl Schwartzel, who birdied the final four holes.

“Tiger was a couple of groups in front of me, and Schwartzel was a couple behind, so we were surrounded by roars all day,” Van Pelt said.

Not that Van Pelt wasn’t causing some himself. He had eagles on both back-nine par-5s (Nos. 13 and 15) and ended up shooting 70 to finish tied for eighth, six behind Schwartzel.

“It was a lot of fun,” Van Pelt said. “You grow up watching that golf tournament on TV. You always hear about the back nine on Sunday and the roars of Augusta. To have a top-10 and make a few eagles on Sunday, I felt like I got to see what Augusta is all about.”

Van Pelt remembers hearing three roars within minutes of one another, including one for his second shot, which hit the green on the par-5 13th hole.

“I told my caddie, ‘This is the stuff you can’t pay for,’” Van Pelt said. “You can’t buy your way to be in the middle of the mix on the back nine on Sunday, and this is why you practice. I just tried to embrace it and was having an absolute ball out there.”

After Van Pelt eagled the 15th hole, he was within one shot of the lead.

“I knew I was getting close, but I knew the guys behind me were the ones leading the tournament and they had par-5s to play,” he said. “You were still in that mindset that I need to keep birdieing these holes because the guys behind me were going to keep making birdies.”

Instead, Van Pelt went the other way, with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 and a par on No. 18.

The tee shot on the par-3 16th hole, which led to a three-putt, is the only shot Van Pelt would like to have back, he said.

“I was hitting the ball well, and I knew all I had to do was keep it inside the swale (on the left side of the green),” he said. “I’d hit three pretty good shots into 16 all week; I think my longest birdie putt was eight feet. I was playing up the swale. I figured I’d hit it there and it would come down. I only missed it by about two yards from where I wanted it and it stayed up top. If I had anything to do over, I’d probably been more aggressive on that shot.”

On No. 17, his approach was right at the flag, he said, but rolled
over the green and he couldn’t save par.

On No. 18, Van Pelt nearly rolled in his birdie putt from off the green and settled for par.

“I’d played (the Masters) one other time, in 2005, and missed the cut,” he said. “That was kind of a weird year. We missed a day (of practice) and guys were teeing off on Nos. 1 and 10, so I never felt like I got the true Augusta and Masters experience.”

By finishing among the top 16 last year, Van Pelt earned an automatic invitation back this year.

“This is a place you want to be every April,” Van Pelt said. “I feel like every year you’re going to build knowledge and maybe not make the same mistakes like the couple times I did, and you’re just going to get more comfortable here.”

With his two back-nine eagles in the final round, Van Pelt tied with five other players for the most in the tournament. But none of them had their two eagles within a three-hole stretch, like Van Pelt. None of them had both their eagles in the same round.

“I’ve probably never done that before,” he said. “That’s a memory I’ll have for a long time.”