Round 2 at The Masters: Wind, More Wind, High Scores and Did I Mention the Wind?

After yesterday’s low scoring affair, Augusta gritted its teeth, stared down the field, waved its finger, and said “no, no, no not today” as the field had a hard time finding any remanence of a birdie during the second round. With wind gust up to 40 MPH, driving was as easy as performing open heart surgery blindfolded, chipping became more impossible than lighting a bonfire during a category 5 hurricane and 2-foot tap in putts seemed as hard as 20-foot double breakers on an Antarctic ice shelf. Augusta has a nasty habit of giving you one good day of scoring then once you feel like you have figured the course out, it rears its ugly head and takes all your confidence away and dumps it into Rae’s Creek.

But with all the struggles the elements brought to the table there were a hand full of players that found shelter from the white sand blowing winds and put together some decent rounds. Max Homa was one of those players who didn’t have a flashy round by any means, but he found a way to get around the wind-swept course under-par. Which with Friday’s blustery conditions is a small victory in itself. By shooting a -1 71 and bringing his total to -6 for the week, he has positioned himself perfectly headed into the weekend to make a run at this thing or at the least shatter his previous record finish of 43rd at The Masters.

Scottie Scheffler continued his smooth play, expect for a little Augusta revenge on 13. Scottie got away with murder in round 1 when his ball decided to stick on the side of 13s bank in front of the green. Like I said earlier, Augusta has a habit of getting revenge this time on 13 Scottie wasn’t so lucky. His ball found the water on 13 when he decided to go for the green in two, but he came up just little short and his ball got swallowed by the steady stream of Rae’s Creek. But that didn’t faze him in the least. He somehow finagled a bogey out of the hole on his way to a slippery footed 72 and a share of the lead.

Defending champ John Rahms week looked like it wasn’t going to continue throughout most of the day on Friday with the mistakes piling up faster than an out of work actors credit card bills but with a couple of back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16, including draining a putt from the other side of Georgia on 16. He found a way to keep his hopes of going back-to-back alive by shooting a 76 and sneaking just under the cutline at +5. Bryson struggled throughout the day seeming to lose his putter on one hole and then finding again on the next hole. But even with all the struggles he had on the greens, he managed to get in at 73 and continue to grasp a share of the lead with Scheffler and Homa at -6 par.

Tiger used experience and wisdom to prowl his way around the course. He settled down on the back nine after a wild front nine that included bad putts, awful drives, 3 birdies and 3 bogeys. With all that wisdom and knowledge, he found a way to get around the course with an even par 72 and don’t look now but Tiger is lurking in the bushes only 7 back headed into the weekend. Wish I could say the same for his good buddy Rory who lifted his hat in confusion more than an accountant trying to wire his light sockets. Rory just had one of those days where nothing seemed to be working. None of which was more obvious than his tee shots on 17 and 18 with both of his drives hitting the front trees just past the tee boxes and leaving him with extremely long second shots into the green. But he found a way to make par from both situations and sneak in under the cut line at +4 by shooting a great 77… yes, a great 77, with some of the best recoveries we have seen all week.

We lost a lot of good players to the cut this week including the likes of Justin Thomas who finished at an eye scratching +7. Viktor Hovland missed the cut by having a minor lapse in judgment on the 15th green. He lined up for a short par putt, missed it and decided to not read the putt coming back and blew it by the hole in a clear act of frustration. He ended up with a double on the hole on his way to a forgettable round of 81. Past champions of The Masters weren’t excluded from missing the cut with likes of Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson, and the crowd favorite Fred Couples all not playing the weekend.  

What a day at Augusta national though, when the wind blows this course shows it can still stand the test of time and hold up against the new age golfer with their 350-yard drives and 200-yard 9 irons. It’s been a while since I’ve seen so many disheveled head scratches from professional golfers. But it just goes to show you golf is a cruel game even for the best players in the world. Heading into the weekend it seems to be anyone’s game. Three of the best players in the world are on top for now while some familiar faces, a few young guns and an old tiger lie in wait just for someone to slip up. The wind will die down and the scores will go lower. But don’t you think for a second that Augusta is going to surrender that easy. The wind dried this course out and it is going to be hard and fast over the next couple of days which will continue to challenge the world’s best. So, I expect more head scratches and confusion, but I can’t wait to see what happens this weekend at The Masters.

Thanks For Reading and Enjoy the 3rd Round at The Masters.