Fox misses cut at Masters Golf Tournament but 'happy'

photo Amateur Steven Fox chips to the second green during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday in Augusta, Ga.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Steven Fox will stick around for the weekend at the Masters - but he won't be playing.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior shot a 13-over-ar 157 and missed the cut by nine strokes Friday.

"You can't have a bad week at Augusta from an amateur's perspective," said the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. "It's every kid's dream, and I got to live it. I was happy to live it, and I'll be back here [playing] one day."

He'll continue to enjoy the most wonderful week of his golfing life. He'll continue staying in the Crow's Nest and enjoy the rest of the Masters as a patron with benefits.

"I'm going to relax, come out here and be on the other side," Fox said. "I'll enjoy the family that's here and have some fun."

Fox opened with a 4-over 76 on Thursday in benign weather. Then he shot a 9-over 81 on Friday in windy conditions. He made the turn at 5 over for the round and knew he wouldn't be playing on the weekend. So he soaked in the environment and drew one final applause for a slick bunker shot on the 18th hole when he used the natural slope of the green and left the ball five feet from the hole.

"It's fun having people watch," Fox said. "It's a lot of fun when you hit a good shot and have the crowd clap for you."

Snedeker seeking

Brandt Snedeker had one of the hottest starts to the 2013 calendar year of any PGA Tour player. Before suffering a rib injury, he finished third at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, tied for second at the Farmer's Insurance Open, placed second at the Phoenix Open and won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

He skipped a few tournaments and then missed two straight cuts coming into the Masters.

The Nashville native is back on track. He opened with a 2-under 70 and repeated the score Friday, which has him tied for fourth and two shots behind leader Jason Day.

"Everybody was saying how easy the golf course played today. Well, today it played really different, really tough," said Snedeker, who birdied two of his last three holes. "To be where I am going into the weekend with the way I'm playing golf, I'm very excited."

TaylorMade tumbles

TaylorMade golfers Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson shot themselves essentially out of contention Friday.

They wore the same attire Thursday when Garcia became co-leader at 6 under and Johnson was third at 5 under.

Garcia shot 4 over Friday and placed much of the blame on swirling winds.

"There were some shots that you would hit well and it would make you look a little bit silly, like what happened to me on 15," Garcia said. "It's almost dead calm when Angel and Adam were hitting. I hit mine, I hit what I thought was a perfect shot to the middle of the green and it caught a huge gust and it comes up short into the water."

Johnson also shot 4 over, losing six strokes over the final five holes, including a double-bogey on the last. He declined interviews.

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

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