'Pretty dumb mistake' - Luke Donald can’t believe he has been so stupid

 
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Andy Hodgson11 April 2014

Luke Donald admitted he only had himself to blame for a “pretty dumb mistake” which left him with a mountain to climb to make the cut.

The Englishman took six shots on the par-four ninth but was later handed a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand with his wedge before playing a bunker shot.

His score for the hole was changed to a quadruple-bogey eight — his worst on a single hole in 10 visits to the Masters — for a seven-over-par round of 79.

“Pretty dumb mistake,” the former world No1 wrote on Twitter. “I can accept the odd poor shot but making a mistake like that is pretty frustrating and so unlike me.”

Donald was not the only big name to run up a big score with the last three Major winners totalling 16 over par thanks to an 80 from US PGA champion Jason Dufner and rounds of 76 from playing partners Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson.

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Three-time winner Mickelson had two sevens on his card to equal his worst opening round in 22 Masters appearances, while US Open champion Rose at least rallied from being six over par after 12, a hole where he was one of many players to find water off the tee on the 155-yard par three.

“It wasn’t the best day for me,” said Mickelson, who won The Open last July. “There were possibilities for low scores and I actually played well. I know it’s hard to say that but I actually played well and I just made a lot of little mental errors.

“I made a lot of little mistakes around the green but I didn’t hit anything unsolid. I just misjudged the shots.”

Dufner was level par after nine holes but came home in 44 with a quadruple-bogey nine on the 13th.

“The margins are very small — miss a shot and you’re going to make a bogey or a double... or in some cases a nine,” said the American, who was playing alongside defending champion Adam Scott.

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