Saturday 13 April 2019 19:32, UK
Eddie Pepperell joked he was better than Rory McIlroy after getting the better of marker Jeff Knox in the third round at the Masters.
Pepperell was the first man out on the course on Saturday morning and played alongside Augusta National member Knox due to the odd number of players making the cut.
Knox, who holds the course record of 61 from the members' tees, famously outscored McIlroy in the same situation in 2014.
But Knox started by three-putting the opening hole and carded an approximate 74 to Pepperell's 72, despite holing a lengthy birdie putt on the 18th, much to the satisfaction of the Englishman.
"I did beat him so make sure you report that, I don't want any myths going around," Pepperell said. "Which makes me better than Rory McIlroy apparently.
"I wasn't sure I was playing with him until I saw him on the range hitting balls actually and then I thought I'm in trouble. He had a really nice swing. The course is probably a little too long for him at this point but man, he's a good player and his short game was brilliant.
"I offered to give him a putt on 15 from five feet, right to left downhill and he refused to take it and then he missed it. I wanted to be really generous in case he did beat me and then I had an excuse.
"I always thought I would like to go out on my own and get it over within two hours but it is nice to have company actually, especially someone like Jeff."
Pepperell has posted scores of 74, 73 and 72 on his Masters debut and believes Augusta National should suit his strong iron play going forward, but admitted he will need to improve his putting.
"Even though it's my first time, on this course it's pretty obvious where you don't want to go," the 28-year-old added. "It's easy to say local knowledge plays a part, but you'd have to be either entirely stupid or terrible to hit it in some of the spots you don't want to be round here - I could be the former.
"I've been a little frustrated with the way I've played, I struggled for momentum out there and not really had a whole lot going on.
"It's been very difficult to get the adrenaline flowing when I haven't been making many putts and keep hitting it into the water on 13 - might as well do it tomorrow, four times in a row for a laugh.
"But it's been good. I've enjoyed it. The par-three (contest) was fun, playing with Matt (Wallace) when he had his hole-in-one and losing some money to him."
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