Charles Howell's latest near miss hit close to home -- but not close enough.
Howell's 11th career runner-up finish on the PGA Tour left him outside the gates of his hometown major. Yet Howell remained upbeat in the press conference after Retief Goosen saved par on the final hole of the Transitions Championship to avoid a three-way playoff.
"Well, if Retief's 5-footer lipped out, I wouldn't have cried," Howell quipped.
This is not really a laughing matter for the 29-year-old Augusta native. Playing in the Masters Tournament is annually among the most important goals for Howell, and he is serious danger of missing an invitation for the first time in eight years.
"The golf tournament means more to me than anything," Howell told reporters after the round. "That may be why I haven't played (the Masters) as well as I would have liked to. But, frankly, it's just hard to get that out of your head -- that it is Augusta. Everybody's nervous there. Everybody's on edge. The golf course can make you look great or look like an absolute idiot, but I love it."
Because of that love, there is not a tournament Howell has played this year when Augusta National hasn't been in his thoughts. One win gets him in. Sunday, on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook near Tampa, was no exception.
"I don't think there's a professional golfer in the world that wouldn't like to play that golf tournament," Howell said of the Masters. "And so, yeah, it's in my mind. It was in my mind (Sunday). But in a good way, for incentive, to keep hanging in there. ... Would have been something."
It would have. As 11th-hour Masters stories go, a local kid securing a late invite under extreme personal pressure is as good as it gets. Having fallen as far as 145th in the Official World Golf Ranking only two weeks ago, Howell's grind with the Masters in mind is compelling theater.
Sunday was a heartbreaking show. Howell climbed up the leaderboard with birdies on 11, 12 and 14 to join Goosen in the lead at 9-under. With Goosen a couple of holes behind him, Howell believed he was in prime position to set the bar from there.
"When I got to 9 (under), I thought four pars would do it," Howell said.
He was right, only four pars didn't happen. On the par-3 15th, Howell missed the green to the right with a 7-iron, short-siding himself to the pin. His chip from the rough checked up short of the green, and he dropped a shot.
He drove it in the rough on the difficult 16th, and his approach came out soft and short of the green leading to another bogey. He parred the last two and had to wait in vain along with Brett Quigley for Goosen to finish.
It was still a step forward for Howell, who is once again working with a new swing coach.
"The work I've done with Todd Anderson has really helped," he said of his Sea Island, Ga., coach. "I'm learning to trust it more. I've said, I'm kind of a fastball pitcher and I'm learning to become a pitcher that throws splitters and knuckleballs, and actually become a golfer."
Last week in Puerto Rico, Howell was contending again before a Saturday 77 dropped him from 12th to 58th.
"That was a quiet night in the hotel room there," Howell said. "That was a pretty low point there, where I was just -- I felt I was playing well. Wasn't leading the tournament, but I was up around it."
Howell regrouped with 66 and then performed well in the two-day Tavistock Cup team match that pitted his Isleworth club against cross-Orlando rivals Lake Nona. He won his second-day team match, partnering and chatting with Tiger Woods.
"You know, it was just kind of nice to pick myself back up from that day in Puerto Rico where I did not play well at all," he said.
Now Howell has only two at-bats left to try to get himself Masters eligible. Up to 97th in the world rankings, it will require either a victory this week at Bay Hill or the next week in Houston to do it.
"That's probably my biggest disappointment is not being in that tournament," Howell said of his fall from form since early in 2007. "Yeah, I've given it a run. I've played a lot of tournaments. I've played a lot of golf this year. But I'm going to play the next two and work my tail off to try to do it."
Howell has climbed to 21st on the money list, and a top-30 finish by season's end will ensure a spot in the 2010 Masters. If he is forced to wait that long to come home, Howell says he's not going to lock himself in an isolation chamber in April trying to block out his disappointment.
"I might caddie for Tiger in the Par 3. I'll work on that, actually," he said. "Oh, absolutely I'll watch it. I love it. You've got to watch it. I'm just a golf fan. I'll watch every minute of it. You know, it's a great tournament to watch. It's not always fun to play, but it's a hell of a tournament to watch. ... Yeah, I wouldn't miss it."
If things break right in the next two weeks, maybe he won't have to.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
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Good Luck Charlie.