Masters notebook

Flesch’s hopes all wet: Steve Flesch was doing just what he needed to do in brutal conditions. Plod along, make a bunch of pars and hope it would be enough to win. Then he got to Amen Corner. After dunking his ball in Rae’s Creek, Flesch didn’t have a prayer. The left-hander took a double-bogey 5 at the picturesque 12th hole, where he knocked his tee shot into the water. Flesch went from just two strokes out of the lead to four, and it all fell apart from there. He played the last seven holes at 6 over, ruining any shot at his first major. Flesch finished in a tie for fifth after closing with a 78, leaving him six strokes behind winner Trevor Immelman. “I was playing all right,” Flesch said. “The wind just got really tricky on the back nine and we just pulled the wrong club on the 12th hole and it went straight up and went in the water.” It didn’t get much better from there. After making par at the par-5 13th — one of the best shots at birdie on the course — he made four bogeys in a row.

Easy does it: While everyone else was getting blown around Augusta National, Miguel Angel Jimenez’s day was a breeze. The Spaniard shot a 4-under 68 Sunday, the best score of the day and only one of four below par. Not bad for a guy who was so close to the cut line he was playing with a marker Saturday. “That was the goal, no? Just to make the cut on Friday and then hope to jump up as much as possible,” said Jimenez, who shot a 77 Thursday but rebounded with a 70 Friday to make the cut on the number. After starting Sunday in a tie for 35th, Jimenez moved all the way up to a tie for eighth.

Casey’s collapse: A gust of wind blew away Paul Casey’s chances of contending for his first major title. Casey, who started the final round four shots off the lead, was standing over a par putt at the sixth hole when his ball moved every so slightly. He called a one-stroke penalty on himself, then putted out for a bogey that should have been a par. He followed with two more bogeys, made the turn with a 5-over 41 and was no longer a factor. “That took the wind out of my sails, because it was so difficult out there today,” Casey said. “That kind of threw me for a couple of holes and that was it. Going into the back nine, I’m too far back, simple as that.”

Outta here: Arron Oberholser’s bogey on the 18th hole might be the last anyone sees of him for a while. Oberholser has been struggling all year with hand and shoulder injuries, and had already said he will take at least the next two months off. He had talked at one point about playing a few events at the end of the season, but said Sunday he’s not even sure about that. He’s already received a medical exemption for next year.

Associated Press