Augusta National wins round two of the Masters
When Bubba Watson walked off the 18th fairway at Augusta National Golf Club, he was already packing in his head.
Watson made the cut in his first seven Masters appearance, but at that moment, he was plus-6 and looking at a scoreboard that showed Jordan Spieth was minus-6 on the front nine.
“Golf course beat me this year,” said Watson, a two-time Masters champion.
Actually it saved him. Watson improbably made the cut in his eighth Masters after a blustery course bloodied everyone in the field, even one of its favorite sons.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth still leads the tournament, but just barely. The 22-year-old Texan carded the first over-par round of his Masters career, a 2-over 74, and sits at 4-under overall, one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy.
“This has now gone to very much a U.S. Open‑style of play… on more challenging greens,” Spieth said.
The conditions took their toll on more than just the player’s scorecards. The normally sweetly stoic Spieth chirped his way down the back nine as the wind blew one shot hither and the next one yon.
“It was very tough to stay cool,” he said. “I mean, it’s a lot easier said than done. You could say, ‘Looked like you got emotional out there’ I mean, you guys try it. That was a hard golf course.”
Spieth pointed out that early in the day he hit a 4-iron into the first green and hit the green and by the end of the day his 9-iron shots were flying over the green. The wind was even more of a factor on putts, several players said.
“We got some really tough breaks today,” he said. “The second shot into 10 was the same thing, supposed to be downwind right‑to‑left and the ball shoots up in the air and goes short of the green, when I thought I had too much club in my hand. It's that kind of stuff and that cost me.”
No one shot better than 1-under Friday, and McIlroy was one of only four players who managed that.
“You just have to look at the scores here and you can see how tough it is today,” McIlroy said. “I think getting anything under par today with the conditions and some of the pin positions, I'm really happy with that and in a good position going into the weekend.”
Columbia’s Dustin Johnson also was in the 1-under club Friday, and is tied for eighth at even par for the tournament. All three South Carolinians in the field – Johnson, Aiken’s Kevin Kisner (72 Friday, 5-under overall) and Greenville’s Bill Haas (74 Friday, 5-under overall) – survived to play the weekend.
“Every time I looked up, the scores were going the wrong way – well, the right way for me,” Kisner said. “It was just a grind. Every shot is so penal. With those conditions it’s just brutal on your mental game. To be able to hang in there and shoot 1-under on the back nine and make the cut was pretty clutch for me.”
Augusta’s forecasts call for more wind gusts Saturday, which may make world No. 5 Rickie Fowler relieved he missed the cut at 9-over.
“You've seen some stuff on TV with the coverage where guys have been affected a bit, but it's even magnified even more in person,” Fowler said. “It's crazy when the ball's just shaking and you got to wait to hit it. So, yeah, definitely difficult out there.”
Spieth and McIlroy, the world’s Nos. 2 and 3 players, will be paired in the final group today.
“It will be a fun round tomorrow,” Spieth said. “There’s the potential tomorrow for someone to shoot a few under and move up into the lead from outside the Top 25. So I don't think either one of us is focused on each other. I think we're focused on the golf course.”
After Friday, they should be.
This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 8:11 PM with the headline "Augusta National wins round two of the Masters."