Not much happened during Friday’s second round of the 83rd Masters. Nothing much except…
Jason Day overcame a tweaked back, shooting a 5-under 67 to gain a share of the lead. His overnight treatment included a brief motivational speech by his wife Ellie to the tune of “This is the Masters….suck it up”.
Tiger Woods overcame a sliding leg sweep from a overzealous security guard on the 14th hole. The moment came just after Woods hit an incredible recovery shot from the left trees just as he had on Thursday. And, you guessed it, he made a long birdie putt just as he had on Thursday. Word is the guard will be parking cars tomorrow, and not in the player’s lot.
John Rahm finally failed to shoot a round in the 60s at Augusta National. He birdied the first two holes and parred the final 16 on his way to a 2-under par 70. The round included a dead cold shank on his second shot on number eight. Rahm turned around in anger to either blame a spectator some 200 yards away or Clifford Roberts’ ghost.
Zach Johnson went full on Joe Hacker on the 13th tee, toeing his ball with his practice swing. The ball glanced off the tee marker and came to rest a few feet in front of the two-time major championship winner. The result? No penalty, one red-faced Johnson, and some good belly laughs from playing companions Matt Kuchar and Ian Poulter. Word is they were thrilled to know that the moment was captured on video.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat hit an incredible hooking second shot around the trees and onto the green on the seventeenth hole. The shot apparently required quite a bit of body English. Something was apparently lost in translation, though, because the affable Taiwanese golfer fell to the ground in the process. No security guards were sighted in the area.
The real story of the day was the great golf played and the tightly packed and star-studded leaderboard which resulted. The weekend weather outlook seems to be the only thing standing in the way of one of the best shootouts in Masters history. Vegas oddsmakers have made the weather a slight favorite at last report.
Joining Day at the top of the leaderboard are Eduardo Molinari (70-67), Brooks Koepka (66-71), Adam Scott (69-68), and Louis Oosthuizen (71-66). Woods, Dustin Johnson, Justin Harding, and Xander Schauffele are one shot back.
In all, 22 players are within 4 shots of the lead and 35 are within six.
There’s not much else to say. This story is far from over.
