British Invasion hits Masters, but lots of time for Yanks to strike back

AUGUSTA, Ga. - What in the bloody ...?

We Yanks don't go over to merry old England and try to dominate cricket or rugby.

We respect their favorite sport of football so much that we call our own favorite sport the same thing, even though it's played with helmets and pads, and not with shorts and high stockings.

So where's the gratitude? Here are two Englishmen atop the leaderboard halfway through the Masters, trying to export a green jacket and steal the glory of the game we invented.

Well, technically, golf was born in the 15th Century, in Scotland. But it was refined in the U.S., with pesticides and beer carts.

Saturday's final third-round pairing here at Augusta National consists of Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, tied for the 36-hole lead at 8-under-par. The former is the fourth-ranked player in the world, the latter is No. 7. So they apparently have game.

“We've both been playing very well, and a lot of the English lads are for that matter,” Westwood said.

“If you had not bothered to look at the world rankings and seen how many English players were up there, and three in the Top-10; we're not up at the top of the world rankings by mistake, you know. We ought to be contending in these major championships in these biggest events where the best players should contend.”

Poulter won this year's World Match Play Championship. Westwood won the 2009 Dubai World Championship, which carries more prestige globally than, say, the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Westwood is from Worksop. Poulter hails from Hitchin, though he now claims Buckinghamshire as home.

They're fonder of steak and ale pie than cheesy grits, I'm guessing.

Poulter is famous for dressing like an explosion in a crayon factory. No color is too loud for him, no outfit too garish.

After his second-straight round of 68, Poulter was asked Friday what would go with the traditional Masters winner's jacket.

“Absolutely anything,” he insisted, getting the laugh from reporters that he was pursuing.

Westwood is known more for golf than his fashion sense, or lack thereof. He has won tournaments on every continent but Antarctica.

In Thursday's Augusta Chronicle, 58 golf writers who are here covering the Masters were asked to predict the Masters winner. Three took Tiger Woods. Three took Phil Mickelson. Seven, including three from the U.S., selected Westwood.

Every golf talking head or talk-show talking head you hear before the third round starts will tell you it's Woods' tourney to

win. He's only two shots back, in the position he likes, and all that jazz.

Westwood, though, is nobody's prop. This is someone who in 2008 tied Arnold Palmer's record for Ryder Cup matches without a loss, with 12.

He certainly didn't sound intimidated by the thought of being in today's final pairing.

“If you're going to win the tournament,” Westwood said, “you've got to be in the lead at some stage.”

Poulter doesn't lack confidence, either. Two years ago, he said “I haven't played to my full potential yet. And when that happens it will just be me and Tiger.”

Ah, yes. Tiger. Now there's someone who has sported a beet-red shirt with the bright green jacket on four past Sundays here, and he's only two shots back with half the tourney remaining.

He chews up opponents (and apparently does other things) without much conscience. And he's 100 percent American.