Key events
Brandon Holtz is 39, the current US Mid-Amateur champion, and currently 3,262nd in the world amateur golf rankings. He shot 81 yesterday, and going into his round today at +9, is almost certainly not going to make the cut for the weekend. And he’s having the time of his life. You’ll enjoy this piece by Andy Bull.
Quite a few players grouped on the shoulder of the leading pack. Still nearly two hours until Rory turns up for work.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (14), Rose (7), Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Rai (9), Hatton (8), Gotterup (7), Spieth (7), Koepka (7), Griffin (6), English (4), Li (4), Homa (3), Taylor, Fleetwood
Justin Rose hadn’t made a birdie since 15 yesterday. He’s had his close shaves and frustrations today, but just about kept a lid on it, and his patience has finally paid off. He rolls in a birdie putt from downtown at 7, and returns to -2. Meanwhile Jordan Spieth salvages par with a ten-footer, remaining at -1, but the third member of the group, Brooks Koepka, having sent his approach from the centre of the fairway into a bunker, can’t get up and down and drops his second stroke of the day. He’s back to -1.
Another bogey for Scottie Scheffler. He nearly pulls his approach at 5 into a bunker. It stops atop the shoulder, but then his chip from the fringe is woefully short. He can’t salvage the situation, a putt from six feet dying on the low side, and the two-time champion drops back to level par.
Aaron Rai keeps taking one step forward, one back. Birdie at 2 was cancelled out by bogey on 5; now he’s just followed birdie at 8 with a dropped shot at 9. He turns in 36 and remains -1. Meanwhile his compatriot Marco Penge, whose debut round yesterday started with a triple-bogey eight on 2, has come out flying today: the 27-year-old from Crawley, the current Spanish Open champion, has birdied 2 and 4 to spring back to +2.
Tyrrell Hatton continues to go along nicely. His third birdie of the day comes at 7, and he moves into red figures at -1. He’s in the zone, having come pretty close to making more birdies at 4, 5 and 6. But he’s not the hottest man out there today. That award currently goes to Im Sung-jae, the 2020 joint runner-up with Cameron Smith: the 28-year-old Korean has just birdied 11, 13, 15 and 16 to move to four under for his round, and level par overall.
It’s just not happening for Scottie Scheffler. He dumps his tee shot at 4 into the bunker guarding the front of the green, and is unable to get up and down. The bogey takes him back to -1. Meanwhile Brooks Koepka sends his tee shot at 6 over the flag to 15 feet, but only gives his birdie putt enough juice to cover 14-and-a-half of them. He remains at -2.
“Gotta effing love Bobby Mac channelling his inner Logan Roy on the back nine yesterday,” begins Simon McMahon, who, rather like the late CEO of Waystar RoyCo, is a potty-mouthed child o’Dundee. “Never change, Bob. Wherever the cut falls, Bob will need to keep his emotions in check and shoot something low. I’m rooting for him, and though it seems 2026 is unlikely to be his year, a red-faced, sweary Scotsman from Oban wearing a green jacket at Augusta would be one of the great stories.”
And on that subject, let me cheer you with the news that MacIntyre has just carded back-to-back birdies, the latest the result of a 30-foot trundle across 4. He’s back where he started the day at +8.
Brooks Koepka is rolling back the years. He sends his approach at 5 from 200 yards to 15 feet, and carefully steers in the right-to-left slider. That’s a third birdie in four holes, and the five-time major winner, who has tied for second twice at Augusta (in 2019 and 2023), is in good nick and coming up hard on the rail.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (12), Koepka (5), Scheffler (3), Lowry, Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler isn’t quite bringing his best stuff. A drive at 2 that disappears down the banking to the left of the fairway. Just par on the historically easiest hole on the course. Then a lacklustre chip into 3. The birdie putt uncharacteristically timid, and that’s just a par-par-par start for the world number one. Hardly a disaster, and he remains at -2, but slow starts have dogged him this season, and he won’t want to pass by too many more scoring opportunities, and give up too much ground to the leaders.
Jon Rahm went round without making a single birdie yesterday, en route to his 78. But he’s trying his best to repair the damage of a six-over round. Birdie at 2, followed by a tramliner across 5, and the 2023 champion is back to +4. It’s way too early to be certain, but that takes him just inside the projected cut. That’s oscillating between +3 and +4 at the moment, mind you, and is bound to change quite a bit as the day goes on. Almost certainly moving out. But Rahm will now have hope after yesterday’s fiasco.
Justin Rose’s tee shot at 4 deserves birdie. But it doesn’t lead to one. It’s a fairly straight putt from seven feet … but not completely straight, and it slips off to the right. Rose flings his putter in the air in frustration, then fails to catch it as he falls. Some hurried repair work with his pitchfork. All good again. But he remains at -1, alongside Brooks Koepka, who can’t make his 25-foot birdie putt, and Jordan Spieth, much more content after getting up and down from the sand.
Another birdie putt for Tyrrell Hatton; another lip-out, this time at 5. A couple of millimetres here, another couple there, and the 34-year-old Englishman would have had four consecutive birdies. But as it is, he stays at level par. Meanwhile disaster for Gary Woodland at 2. He sends a fairway wood through the trees down the right of the hole, and can only punch out. He then underhits a wedge into a bunker, and he can’t get up and down. A double-bogey seven on a par five, and he’s back to +1 overall.
The par-three 4th is a different proposition today. Just 178 yards yesterday; 231 now. Brooks Koepka pushes his tee shot slightly, but the ball lands on the right-hand side of the green and the camber takes him round to 25 feet. Jordan Spieth dumps his ball in the bunker at the front. Justin Rose’s effort is the best of the lot, a high draw over the flag to seven feet. Difficult to sense whether this three-ball will inspire each other to great heights, or drag each other down. It’s strangely in the balance right now, the slim margins of Masters golf.
Wyndham Clark drops his first stroke of the day. He misses the 10th green to the right, finding the big bunker. His wedge out flies past the hole and only just holds the green; the putt coming back is always breaking to the left. Meanwhile Brooks Koepka wedges to seven feet at 3, and makes his birdie putt. He joins his partners Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth at -1, the former hitting another careless chip, the latter missing another makeable birdie putt. Rose especially showing signs of frustration, bordering on full-blown irritation. His mood only registering 1.5 out of 10 on our patented BobMacometer™, though.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (10), Scheffler (1), Lowry, Schauffele
The LIV crew haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory so far this week. Tyrrell Hatton is however trying his best to address that issue. Birdies at 2 and 3, and after yesterday’s undercooked 74, he moves back to level par for the Tournament. Then at the par-three 4th, he’s a couple of millimetres away from making it three in a row, tickling a left-to-right slider downhill from 15 feet, the ball slipping agonisingly by on its last rotation. That was a fine effort.
Disappointing pars for Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth at 2. Both miss short-ish but missable birdie putts, Rose as the result of a heavy-handed chip, Spieth not committing to a 35-foot eagle chance. Birdie for Brooks Koepka, though. Rose and Spieth remain at -1, Koepka moves back to level par.
Scheffler tickles a downhill 15-footer to within an inch of dropping. Opening par. Same for Woodland, whose easier, fairly straight 12-footer across the green dies to the left on its last turn. But MacIntyre skulls his sand shot, the ball trundling 40 feet past. Three putts later, that’s an ugly double-bogey to start. He’s +10 and let’s put this week down as a learning process. Meanwhile Wyndham Clark pars 9 to hit the turn in 33. He remains -3.
Scheffler and Woodland take turns to throw darts at the pin on 1. MacIntyre, perhaps mindful that he needs a super-low number today if he’s to somehow survive, also goes for the flag but pulls his approach, and he’ll be shortsided in the bunker.
The world number one Scottie Scheffler is out and about. He doesn’t quite catch his opening drive, and peers after it quizzically, but while it’s shorter than usual, it’s straight. Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland follow him down. MacIntyre gets a good reception from the gallery, despite yesterday’s toddler-style tanty, flashing a middle finger at the pond on 15 which had just snaffled two of his balls, and burying the hosel of his club into the ground at 17. No news yet as to whether or not the Augusta National suits have given him a clip round the lug. Perhaps they think a round of 80 was punishment enough.
A disappointing three-putt par for Wyndham Clark at the par-five 8th. Having found the heart of the bowl-shaped green in two, he races his 50-foot eagle putt 11 feet past, and gets a bit over-excited with the one coming back, too, knocking that a couple of feet past. He tidies up to stay at -3, but that’s a big chance spurned.
Justin Rose’s ball has found the tree line all right. His backswing is hampered by an awkward loblolly. So he does exceptionally well to punch a low shot under the branches, through the green, and just off the back. But he leaves his putt from the fringe eight feet short, and can’t make the par saver. That’s three bogeys in a row, if we’re counting the denouement to last night’s round, which we surely must. Bogey for Brooks Koepka, too, as he’s unable to read a putt with a 20-foot right-to-left break correctly. But it’s a birdie for Jordan Spieth, who walks in a straight-ish 15-footer after finding the heart of the green. Koepka drops to +1; Spieth and Rose are both -1, but one is much happier about it than the other.
Justin Rose was running “a little hot” after bogeying 17 and 18 last night. He’s not 100 percent happy with his opening drive today, either, sending it dangerously close to the tree line down the right. His playing partners Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka are also out of position. Not the most auspicious start for the marquee group of the morning. Rose starts the day at -2; Spieth and Koepka at level par.
Birdie for Aaron Rai at 2! The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton, now based in Florida, gets up and down from sand at the front to move to -2. The winner of the Par 3 Contest has to double up with a Green Jacket at some point, it’s surely in the post, we’re overdue statistically, 66 years and counting. So why not this year?
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Clark (6), Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Rai (2), Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
Wyndham Clark’s birdie putt at 6 looks good. A straight roll. But it drifts a little to the right just before reaching the cup, enough to kink out. That really did look like it was going in. So he remains at -3 for both his round and the Tournament overall. He’s no longer the only player out there in red for his round today: Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020, birdies 7 and 8 to move into credit today – he’s +3 overall – while the old trooper Freddie Couples birdies 2 to get back to +5. Such a shame about that hideous run at 15, 16 and 17 yesterday – quadruple bogey, double bogey, double bogey – but you can forgive a 66-year-old for running out of gas under the heat of the late-afternoon sun.
The Par 3 Contest winner Aaron Rai starts his second round calmly and confidently. Tea Olive found in regulation, and a long birdie putt that shaves the hole. He remains at -1 after yesterday’s 71, a round that promised more after going out in 33. Meanwhile Wyndham Clark’s run of consecutive birdies comes to an end at 5. Just a par, though he’s now landed his tee shot at 6 into the heart of the green, using the slope to bring his ball towards the flag tucked away front left. He’ll have a good look at birdie from 18 feet, a putt not exactly flat and straight, but as flat and straight as they come around here.
At the risk of belabouring the point, here’s a bit more on how difficult Augusta National is playing this week. As mentioned earlier, yesterday’s scoring average was 74.65, just over two-and-a-half shots over par. That’s the highest first-day average since 2017 (74.98) although we did get more sub-70 rounds yesterday than we did on Thursday nine years ago: five to two. Though how much attention our defending champion and co-leader Rory McIlroy will pay to all this is moot: he shot 72 in the first round in 2017, but 67 yesterday. Golf is almost as difficult to analyse as it is to play.
Clark is the only player out this morning under par for his round so far. A small sample size, but one that nevertheless suggests low scores will come at a premium today. To illustrate: Tom McKibbin, whose Masters debut isn’t going to plan. The 23-year-old from Belfast shot 75 yesterday, and he’s opened this morning with three bogeys and a double in his first five holes. He’s clattered down the standings to +8, and isn’t the only player from the LIV tour to be struggling this week: none of the tour’s ten representatives broke par yesterday, with their big guns Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm shooting 76 and 78 respectively, two of the pre-Tournament favourites as good as out of the running already.
It’s three birdies in a row for 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark! On a roll, he cracks his tee shot at the long par-three 4th pin high, to eight feet, and walks in the putt. The late-blooming 32-year-old from Denver tied for fourth at last year’s Open, so he’s trending in the majors, albeit with a nine-month hiatus, but he’s not got a good record at Augusta National: one missed cut and a tie for 46th. Looks like he’s in the mood to right that particular wrong.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Clark (4), Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
It promises to be a glorious day at Augusta National. Sunny and dry, with temperatures set to reach 80 degrees by the afternoon. Not too much in the way of wind. It’ll be more of the same during the weekend, so expect conditions to get tougher and tougher as the course gets harder and faster. Given that yesterday’s scoring average was 74.65, already up nearly two strokes from last year’s average of 72.81, we could be in for plenty of high jinks on Sunday afternoon. Cannot wait.
The first adjustment towards the top of today’s Leader Board comes courtesy of the 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark. He birdies 2, wedging over the bunker guarding the right of the green to a couple of feet and tidying up. He follows that up by finding the dancefloor of the elevated green at 3 in regulation, then steering in the right-to-left 12-footer that remains. A birdie-birdie blast, and Clark moves confidently into red figures.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (3), Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Rai, Bridgeman, Woodland, Li, Taylor, Fleetwood
… also, before we head out onto the course, it’s probably best if we grab ourselves a snack. How about one of these new dark-milk chocolate bars with caramel and rice crispies? CANDY BAR: the only Soviet-branded candy with a hazelnut crunch! Horseshoe theory enthusiasts will be delighted to see the late-stage capitalism of the USA swinging all the way around towards a socialist idyll. Just $2.25. Sounds delicious, get me two.
While we wait for the meaningful action to begin, let’s whack on a tune. Now then, “CBS” + “music” = Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen. It also equals this. All together now (for it has lyrics) …
Well it’s springtime in the valley on Magnolia Lane
It’s the Augusta National and the master of the game
Who’ll wear that green coat on Sunday afternoon?
Who’ll walk the 18th fairway singing this tune?
Augusta, your dogwoods and pines
They play on my mind like a song
Augusta, it’s you that I love
And it’s you that I’ll miss when I’m gone.
It’s Watson, Byron Nelson, Demaret, Player and Snead
It’s Amen Corner and it’s Hogan’s perfect swing
It’s Sarazen’s double eagle at the 15 in ‘35
And the spirit of Clifford Roberts that keeps it alive
Augusta, your dogwoods and pines
They play on my mind like a song
Augusta, it’s you that I love
And it’s you that I miss when I’m gone
It’s the legions of Arnie’s Army and the Golden Bear’s throngs
And the wooden-shafted legend of Bobby Jones.
Preamble
“What are we all going to talk about next year?” Yes, well, Rory’s keeping his riff alive, isn’t he? It’s a good while today until the defending champ turns up for work, mind you, so in the meantime, here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked after 18 holes …
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Lowry, Schauffele, Rose, Scheffler
-1: Li, Taylor, Fleetwood, Campbell, Rai, Bridgeman, Woodland
… and here’s the Friday running order. Some pre-Tournament favourites in Ludvig Åberg (+2), Bryson DeChambeau (+4) and Jon Rahm (+6) need to get their gamefaces on and quick.
Today’s tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST)
1240 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sam Stevens
1250 Brian Campbell, Tom McKibbin (NIrl), Andrew Novak
1302 Wyndham Clark, (a) Mateo Pulcini (Arg), Mike Weir (Can)
1314 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Zach Johnson, Michael Kim
1326 (a) Ethan Fang, Davis Riley, Danny Willett (Eng)
1338 Daniel Berger, Brian Harman, Adam Scott (Aus)
1350 Fred Couples, (a) Pongsapak Laopakdee (Tha), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)
1402 Jacob Bridgeman, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng)
1419 Michael Brennan, Corey Conners (Can), Harry Hall (Eng)
1431 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Maverick McNealy, JJ Spaun
1443 Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Chris Gotterup, Jon Rahm (Spa)
1455 Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose (Eng), Jordan Spieth
1507 Ben Griffin, Sepp Straka (Aut), Justin Thomas
1519 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Scottie Scheffler, Gary Woodland
1531 Harris English, Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Marco Penge (Eng)
1551 Johnny Keefer, Haotong Li (Chn)
1603 Max Homa, Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
1615 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa)
1627 Angel Cabrera (Arg), (a) Jackson Herrington, Sami Valimaki (Fin)
1639 Ryan Fox (Nzl), Max Greyserman, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
1651 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Matt McCarty, Vijay Singh (Fij)
1703 Casey Jarvis (Rsa), Kurt Kitayama, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor)
1715 Nicolas Echavarria (Col), (a) Brandon Holtz, Bubba Watson
1732 Sam Burns, Jake Knapp, Cameron Smith (Aus)
1744 Keegan Bradley, Ryan Gerard, Nick Taylor (Can)
1756 Jason Day (Aus), Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry (Irl)
1808 Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Patrick Reed
1820 Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele
1832 Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa
1844 (a) Mason Howell, Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Cameron Young
1856 Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Alexander Noren (Swe)
