Quigley blog: Breaking par is my goal for tomorrow

Brett Quigley struggled to score on a blustery Saturday, as did so many players. He hit a lot of good shots, he writes, but just didn't get much out of them. But with better conditions on Sunday, he is hoping for his first red-number round of the week.

Editor's note: Brett Quigley came to Augusta National this week to play in his first Masters. He had to make a quick trip home to Jupiter, Fla., though, when his wife Amy went into labor. Lillian Sage Augusta Quigley was born in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, but Quigley made it back in time for the first round. He shot 79 on Saturday and filed this blog after the round.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- I didn't watch a shot on TV yesterday after I finished. I didn't need to. We had about 15 people at the house glued to the TV set trying to see if I was going to make the cut.

I was in the back room, talking and goofing around, and then a couple of us went outside to shoot some hoops. But I could tell what was going on by the way they were cheering and moaning. I guess the big drama was at the 16th hole when Zach (Johnson) had a chance to get to 4 under, but he three-putted instead and dropped back to 2 under. So that made 15 people at 8 under happy.

Someone told me it was his only three-putt all year. Wow. But that's the thing out here. You can't take any putt for granted. I didn't feel safe, though, until Justin Rose hit his second shot at the 18th hole. He was 1 under at the time and could have knocked us all out if he holed that shot. I was very pleased when found out I made the cut. Going home would have been very, very easy to have done, of course. It was a blessing either way. I'm certainly glad I'm here. At the same time, I'm ready to go home and see Amy and Lily.

I played well again today. I made a sloppy bogey at No. 11 and hit a bad tee shot at the 12th, though, and I couldn't get it back from there. I was only 2 over for the day when I got to Amen Corner, and I thought if I could get it back to even, it would be a pretty darn good score because the winds were really starting to blow.

I actually made a good bogey at the 12th hole. I had 151 yards and I hit a nice little 9-iron there. It should've been right to left and just a little in, and it kind of blew mine left to right and it one-hopped in the water. That tee shot is just amazing. You look at the flag at No. 11 and it's blowing one way, and you look at the flag at the 12th and it's blowing the other. It's tough to hit. You know you have to hit a solid shot, but it's so easy to hit it in that back bunker. Obviously, you don't want to hit it in the front one. It's such an amazing test.

I'm a little wiped, but I felt pretty good today. I had a good chance to shoot under par today and I hit a lot of good shots. I just didn't get much out of it. You'll see a lot of that today. There are going to be a lot of good shots that don't end up in good places.

The conditions are just so difficult. You'll see some guys look pretty silly out there today. My playing partner, Sandy Lyle, five-putted No. 16. It took me about three times to add up what he made. It's way harder than you can ever imagine. I was talking with Sandy out about the golf course and what it was like when he won in 1988.

He hit 1-iron into that fairway bunker at No. 18 on Sunday that year, and today we hit driver and didn't even think about reaching it. So, obviously he?s seen some changes in 20 years. He said the man who wins this week will be a true champion because he'll have gone through all the emotions and hit all the shots. Everyone will have spells where they'll fall back, and we'll see how they handle that.

This has been an amazing week. The only thing I would like to have done that I haven't is shoot under par. I feel like I've played well enough to do it and I just haven't. It's amazing how much this place can still get you even when you're hitting good shots. So now I've got one more day to see if I can. I am excited for tomorrow, but I am certainly excited to get home, too.