"THIS course can make a monkey out of you and it sure did it to me today." Ben Crenshaw, the defending champion, was attempting to come to terms with a dispiriting 77 which showed him the other side of a venue that had showered him with such riches only 12 months ago. Like others before him, he had succumbed to the burden of one of the game's most coveted titles.

It is a problem that clearly affects players differently. For instance, as recently as 1990, Nick Faldo responded to the challenge by going on to a second successive US Masters. And when the cut was made on 151 in 1985, Crenshaw, mark one, was five strokes inside the target, even if he happened to go on to struggle" to an eventual share of 57th place.

I felt really great going out there, but I got into trouble right from the start," he said. That was a pulled drive which finished against a tree to the left of the first fairway, leading to an opening bogey. Granted, the pain was eased by a birdie four at the second, but the champion was soon back in trouble. Remarkably for him, there were three putts for bogeys at the fifth and sixth, and a fluffed bunker recovery cost him a double bogey at the seventh.

"It was my turn to bleed out there and, try and I would, I found it hard to stop the flow," he went on. "I just couldn't seem to get the pace of the greens. After reaching the turn in 41, I went seven over with a double bogey at the 11th. After that, I was simply struggling to try and get back to a half decent score, but it didn't happen."

He managed to birdie the 14th and 15th, giving him a total of three birdies for the round. But that was as much as he could do to repair the damage.

It leaves him with an extremely difficult task in qualifying for the final two rounds when the halfway cut is made tonight. Yet, if he should fail, there would be some comfort in the quality of player who has shared such fate.

For instance, having become the first competitor to successfully defend the title in 1966, Jack Nicklaus had to endure the embarrassment of failing to survive four rounds in 1967. Interestingly, he shot 72 and 79 for 151 which was a stroke outside the qualifying mark on which Ireland's Joe Carr got through, after, rounds of 76 and 74.

By his own admission, Crenshaw's form can be terribly unpredictable. That was emphasised in January of this year when, in the opening two events 61 the season, he finished 11th in the Mercedes Championship and missed the cut in Phoenix. And he missed further cuts at the Buick Invitational and at Bay Hill and withdrew with back problems after an opening 74 in the Los Angeles Open at Riviera.

His embarrassment yesterday was heightened by the fact that he seemed to drag his playing partner, Tiger Woods (75), down almost to his own level. All he can hope now is that his famous blade, "Little Ben", delivers an overdue dividend on greens that should be perfectly suited to his special skills.

"It's not over," he insisted.

"But the only way back for me is to go out there tomorrow morning and start making birdies. I really don't want to go out of it this way."