By Bob Harig, in Augusta for the Cayman Compass
AUGUSTA, Georgia – He grinded over the closing holes, never giving up, certainly not over the short par putt he had at the 18th, knowing it probably wasn’t enough but wanting to make it just in case.
Justin Hastings rolled it in to warm applause as he finished his second round at the Masters, a score of even-par 72 that saw him shoot 1 under-par 35 on the final nine.
His three-birdie, three-bogey round ended up being two shots too many, meaning no weekend of golf for the Cayman Islands player who qualified for his first major championship.
In the moments afterward, he tried to put it all in perspective.
“I think it’s hard to – this place exceeds expectations,” he said. “You can’t really expect enough, I think. I think that’s just how I would sum up the whole week. Just blew my expectations away.”
Hastings, 21, who plays college golf at San Diego State, will ultimately rue his stretch at the 15th and 16th holes in the opening round, where he went bogey-double bogey and ended up shooting 76.
Bogeys happen and mistakes are inevitable, especially around Augusta National, but those two holes ultimately cost him a chance at making the cut.
And that’s why bouncing back to shoot even par was meaningful.
“A whole different golfer,” he said of the difference between the first and second rounds. “I hit the golf ball the way I expect to. I hit it very, very well and almost was on the flipside putting; whereas my putting and chipping absolutely saved me yesterday, could have been a very high score.
“Today I really stripped the ball and probably couldn’t have scored a whole lot worse than I did.”
Justin Rose, 44, who won the 2013 US Open as well as the 2016 Olympic Gold Medal, leads the tournament at 8 under par, meaning Hastings finished 12 shots worse.
The 36-hole cut, for the top 50 players and ties, came at 146, 2 over par.
Hastings made it into the Masters via his January win at the Latin America Amateur Championship, a tournament started by Augusta National officials in 2015 as a way to inspire players in the reach to strive for greatness.
“Yeah, it’s meant the world,” Hastings said. “Obviously, played this tournament since I was 14 years old, so kind of grew up with that being a big part of me.
“To finally reap the benefits of that what tournament means and be here and put on a decent performance and kind of show myself that I can get around a place like this with some of the best, it’s been such a big part of my life.”
The winner gets spots in the Masters, US Open and British Open as long as they don’t turn pro.
Hastings, who still has a college season to complete, is considering turning pro, but said he will likely wait until after the British Open. His 12th-place standing in the PGA Tour University Rankings will give status on the Americas Tour, a PGA Tour developmental circuit.
The US Open is at Oakmont, Pennsylvania, where his playing partner of the past two days, Dustin Johnson, won in 2016. The British Open is at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
“I’m taking it as it comes,” he said.
