AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 Fred Couples stood at the podium and winced, thinking about what could have been.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I had a good time,\u201d he said. It was clear he meant that. It was also clear he was still thinking about Augusta National\u2019s 15th hole, where he\u2019d made 9<\/a> on Thursday and 6 on Friday, singlehandedly dooming his chance at the cut line. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never wedged it into the water there,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it\u2019s water, water, water every time I look at the goddamn thing, and I don\u2019t know why.\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s a nine? Is that a quad? Quad-double-double, wow.\u201d That was in reference to his deflating Thursday finish. When he teed off on 15 he was two under par. When he walked off 17 he was six over. \u201cThat\u2019s 8-over [on three holes]. I think that\u2019s almost impossible to do, but I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n But he made something clear despite his disappointment.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would have to be an idiot<\/a> not to love Augusta National,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThere are great courses all over the world, but there are none of them like this.\u201d<\/p>\n THE CRUELEST, COOLEST THING that only happens on Friday at the Masters is this: we actually hear from the golfers who miss the cut.<\/p>\n In a typical week the golfers who shoot the lowest scores are the ones who talk to the media. Those who don\u2019t? They\u2019re generally permitted to trunk-slam in peace. But this week there\u2019s more media, infrastructure and consequence to a missed cut, so it\u2019s worth hearing about. It\u2019s perhaps that much crueler that the one week pros are asked about their missed cuts is the week that missing the cut hurts the most \u2014\u00a0but so it goes at one of three small podiums just outside Augusta National\u2019s scoring area.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where, on Friday morning, you could have heard a heartbreaking admission from Andrew Novak, who\u2019d just bogeyed two of his last three holes to cost himself a weekend tee time.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I mean, I was kind of coming up 18 thinking, \u2018This could be the last time I ever get to play here,’\u201d Novak said.<\/p>\n Long-term, he said, getting back to this place and earning a spot in this tournament will be motivating. But in real time?<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, this is my favorite week of the year. This is the best tournament I\u2019ve ever played in. Just makes it a little bit more disappointing that I\u2019m not going to have two more rounds to play in it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tom McKibbin came through a short while later, having just signed for a second-round 76 that cut his first-ever Masters short. The Northern Irishman admitted that he wasn\u2019t sure what he was feeling, exactly. But he was feeling a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. A bit annoying. Fun. Yeah, it was a bit of everything. Probably a little bit of every emotion,\u201d he said. Mostly he described it as feeling different.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s probably the first time I\u2019ve come to a place and sort of felt that feel to try to not miss it again,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely the best golf tournament that I\u2019ve ever played.\u201d<\/p>\n