From The Masters: Smith on Schmitz, conditions

Augusta, Ga.

I just walked 18 holes to view the course and feel the conditions, then spoke with Cameron Smith, the talented youngster who played his first two rounds with Minnesota amateur Sammy Schmitz and former Masters champ Mike Weir.

Schmitz played his first nine in even par. He played the last two holes of his first round in even par. He played his second round in three-over par. He played holes 10-16 on Thursday in nine-over par.

That had to frustrate him, knowing he would play Augusta National well and that a few bad holes cost him a chance of making the cut. But most of the guys you watch every weekend on TV did the same thing.

Smith is 22. He hits it a mile. He's good enough to have finished tied for fourth in the U.S. Open last year.

This week, in his first Masters, he shot rounds of 74, 73, 82 and 74.

His bad day came on Saturday. If it had arrived earlier he wouldn't have made the cut.

``You make a bogey and you think you have to make a birdie to make up for it, and you just can't do that around here. You just have to make par when you can."

Smith was impressed with Schmitz. ``I thought he was playing solid," Smith said. ``He had a run of a few crappy holes, playing in this wind, and that's all it takes. I thought he settled down again and played well."

Please check out the Monday paper for final round coverage.

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We're taking our baseball show, Roy Smalley's Chin Music, live on Wednesday. We'll do the show at noon at Hell's Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis, taking live questions, as well as talking about Roy's favorite subjects - hitting, The Big Lebowski, Oscar Gamble, jazz guitar and '60s and '70s music.