AUGUSTA, Ga.

Henrik Stenson has played in the Masters nine times without much success. He has three rounds in the 80s. He has only one round in the 60s (just barely — a 69). And he has yet to record a finish higher than a tie for 14th.

He attributed that to not being in great form, not hitting his irons to the right spot on the greens, poor putting, a “combination of those things.”

“And any other thoughts, greatly appreciated,” he said with his dry delivery.

Stenson didn’t even have much luck as a spectator. That’s right — the world’s No. 2 player first came to the Masters as a fan.

His wife, Emma, was playing at South Carolina and arranged for tickets to a practice round on Monday in 1999. He was watching Jose Maria Olazabal, the 1994 champion, in the short-game area of the old practice range.

“He was nipping every ball so perfectly and playing great bunker shots and everything,” Stenson said. “I said that to someone, ‘I think he’s going to have a good week,’ and he ended up winning.”

Stenson wasn’t a big winner, though. He meant to place a bet on the Spaniard and never got around to it.

“It was different. It was harder to place bets back then,” Stenson said. “I actually had to set my alarm and call my mom in Sweden to go to the bookie, and I ended up forgetting. So yeah, it’s something that still haunts me.”

———

NOT THAT YOUNG: Tiger Woods was talking about the next generation of players when he mentioned that he won his first Masters in 1997 when “Jordan was still in diapers.” That would be Jordan Spieth, the 21-year-old from Texas who now is No. 4 in the world.

Spieth would have been 3. He was asked to confirm that he was still in diapers.

“I just came out of diapers a couple of years ago,” Spieth said with a laugh. “Let’s see, I was 3, almost 4. So I don’t know. Are kids still in diapers at 3?”

———

HAPPY FANS: Patrick Reed is known for having a bit of a prickly attitude at times on the golf course. But he managed to make a few fans happy Tuesday during a practice round at the Masters.

Playing alone, Reed hit a drive into the right rough on No. 10, then reloaded and hit one down the center. When his caddie picked up the first ball and tossed it back to Reed, a group of fans who had gathered around the ball groaned

“We wanted you to play this one,” one said.

Reed threw the ball back into the rough, then waited for the green to clear to hit an iron shot that came up short.

Then he walked away, not a word said.