Although the name doesn’t appear on any leaderboard, Mother Nature delivered her version of a flag-raising 64 at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday.
Intense winds tossed the bunker’s contents into the air throughout the day, occasionally moving golf balls off target and causing countless player withdrawals and shot reassessments. When the dust settled, literally in this case, three American stars were tied for first with 36 holes to play.
Here are the main figures and notes to know from the second day of the 88th Masters.
1. An elite field had an average of 75.08, the second highest round at the Masters since 2007. The 1.65 stroke increase from the first round was the largest jump between the first and second rounds of the Masters since 1976, when he played 1.85 shots more difficult. On approach shots, the field hit 7 percent fewer greens in regulation than Thursday, with the average proximity to the hole jumping more than 4 feet.
The carnage was of course not limited to the second round. Players scheduled to complete their first rounds had enough holes to complete to feel the wrath of Augusta National on Friday. Defending Open champion Brian Harman shot a second nine 47, the highest score by a player under 50 since 2009. Four years ago, Dustin Johnson became the first man to the history of the Masters to reach 20 under par. On Friday, he made consecutive double bogeys for the first time in his career at the Masters. Jordan Spieth made his second career nine on the 15th hole, the only player to do so multiple times over the past two decades.
2. It hasn’t always been pretty, but Scottie Scheffler carded a 72 in the second round to tie for the lead entering the weekend. Scheffler hit just 10 greens in regulation, his fewest in 18 career rounds at the Masters. However, his short game was once again exceptional: Scottie is ranked second in the field in strokes gained around the green, gaining well over a stroke and a half in that metric in the second round.
The inevitability of Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard is the shadow of professional golf at this point. Friday marked the 30th major championship round since 2021 in which Scheffler was in the top 10 after the match – seven more than anyone else in that span. He hasn’t been worse than tied for 11th in two rounds of a golf tournament since January. Friday marked the 25th time since 2020 that Scheffler broke a field average in a major round by three shots or more, the most of any player in that streak.
If the 27-year-old were to win this week, he would be the fourth youngest player in history to win a second green jacket, behind Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros.
3. This is the fourth time that the No. 1 player in the official world golf rankings has led after 36 holes at the Masters. The other instances were Greg Norman in 1996 (finished second), Johnson in 2020 (won) and Scheffler two years ago (won).
Scheffler didn’t make a bogey for the tournament until the fifth hole of his second round. The last time a reigning world number one player went more than 22 holes to start a major tournament without a single shot falling was Woods at the 2000 Open at St. Andrews (37 holes). Johnson also went through the first 22 holes of the Masters in 2020 without a bogey – this week ended well for him.
4. A day after shooting a career-best 65 at the Masters, Bryson DeChambeau cruised his way to a 73 in the second round. In difficult conditions, DeChambeau hit four fewer greens in regulation and was nearly neutral in strokes gained putting a day after collecting more. only three shots in this category. This is the first time Bryson has led after consecutive rounds in a major championship.
As polarizing as it is, a DeChambeau victory would be an undeniable achievement. Since 1960, only four American players have won both the US Open – which Bryson already has in his ranks – and the Masters at age 30 or younger. The quartet is made up of Nicklaus, Woods, Spieth and Arnold Palmer. If DeChambeau gets there, his driver will rightly play a huge role. He leads the tournament in strokes gained off the tee through two rounds.
5. Hours before Scheffler and DeChambeau took the stage, Max Homa continued to write his best major performance to date. Homa hit the field’s best 15 greens in the second round before shooting a 71 in the second round to share the 36-hole lead.
The front nine at Augusta National was a puzzle that Homa couldn’t solve in his first four Masters starts. He made bogey or worse on more than 28 percent of holes and had a total of 23 in 12 rounds. This week he is 6 under on the front nine and bogey-free. After two rounds, Homa is third in the field in approach strokes gained and sixth in putting strokes gained.
It’s the first time three American players have shared the 36-hole lead at the Masters since 1985, when Craig Stadler, Tom Watson and Payne Stewart tied. Bernhard Langer won that week.
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Max Homa finally makes his breakthrough at the Masters
6. Woods moved his name to the top of another section of the Masters Tournament record book on Friday. Woods is now 24 out of 24 to qualify for the Masters – perfect as a professional – giving him the record for most consecutive wins. He broke a tie with Gary Player, who didn’t miss a cut from 1959 to 1982, and Fred Couples, whose run was from 1983 to 2007.
It should be noted that all three players had years during their streaks without competing. The mark for the most consecutive years to make the cut belongs to Watson with 21 (1975-1995).
These four legends make up half of the list of eight players who have made 24 or more Masters Cups all time, let alone in a row, like Woods did. Woods broke the field scoring average in each of the first two rounds, giving him 80 such performances during his storied Masters career. Among players who have played 30 or more rounds, Woods’ career win rate – 81.7 percent – is the second highest, behind Lloyd Mangrum (81.7 percent) and just ahead of Ben Hogan (79). .6 percent).
Phil Mickelson also made the cut, the 28th of his remarkable Masters career. Mickelson’s performance this week breaks a tie with Raymond Floyd and Langer for fourth place in tournament history. This is the 23rd Masters in which Woods and Mickelson have both qualified.
7. Two Masters debutants who represented Europe in last year’s Ryder Cup are firmly entering the conversation this weekend. On Friday morning, Nicolai Højgaard completed a round of 67, tying the lowest first-round score by a European player in his Masters debut (David Gilford, 1995). Højgaard – the only player with more strokes gained around the green this week than Scheffler – is alone in fourth place after two rounds.
Ludvig Aberg, meanwhile, was the only player to surpass 70 in the second round. Aberg is the first rookie to shoot the day’s solo low round at a Masters since Smylie Kaufman shot 69 in the third round in 2016. No player has won the Masters in their major championship debut, and no Masters debutant has won the green. since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
8. The cut line of 6-over is the highest at the Masters since 2017. It is only the fourth time since 2000 that players over-six and better have qualified for a Saturday start at Augusta National. Among those who missed the cut were Spieth, whose first-round 79 was his career-worst score at the Masters by three strokes.
He was not alone as a multiple major champion in returning home early. Justin Thomas was even up for the tournament by walking to the 15th tee, but played his last four holes in 7 to miss the cut by one point. Johnson shot 78-79, the worst 36-hole total of his major career. Johnson is 27 over par at the Masters since winning in 2020.
9. In this context, the following fact becomes even more impressive: Vijay Singh, 61, and José María Olazábal, 58, have been selected and will play this weekend. Both players made their major league debuts during the Ronald Reagan administration. They have combined for more than 15,000 shots in official Masters competition.
This is the third time since 2000 that two players aged 58 or older have qualified for the Masters. Couples and Langer did it in 2018, and Nicklaus and Tommy Aaron did it in 2000.
ten. Thirty-six of the last 37 Masters champions were in the top 10 heading into the third round. The last player to come back more than four rounds over two rounds to win the Masters was Charl Schwartzel (six back) in 2011.
The greatest 36-hole comeback win belongs to Jackie Burke Jr., who was eight behind Ken Venturi at the halfway point in 1956.
(Top photo by Bryson DeChambeau: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)