An incredibly blustery day at Augusta National with a scoring average over 75 left a star-studded American trio atop the leaderboard after 36 holes of the Masters.
Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, and Bryson DeChambeau navigated the difficult conditions to sit at 6-under, two clear of Nicolai Hojgaard and three ahead of Collin Morikawa and Cam Davis.
Ludvig Aberg, who was the only man in the 89-player field to break 70 on the day, sits alone in seventh spot.
| PLACE | PLAYER | TOTAL TO PAR | ROUND 2 SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-1 | Scottie Scheffler | -6 | 72 |
| T-1 | Max Homa | -6 | 71 |
| T-1 | Bryson DeChambeau | -6 | 73 |
| 4 | Nicolai Hojgaard | -4 | 73 |
| T-5 | Collin Morikawa | -3 | 70 |
| T-5 | Cam Davis | -3 | 72 |
| 7 | Ludvig Aberg | -2 | 69 |
| T-8 | Matthieu Pavon | -1 | 73 |
| T-8 | Cameron Young | -1 | 73 |
| T-8 | Tommy Fleetwood | -1 | 71 |
| T-8 | Danny Willett | -1 | 75 |
| T-8 | Ryan Fox | -1 | 74 |
| T-8 | Byeong Hun An | -1 | 73 |
| T-8 | Cameron Smith | -1 | 72 |
DeChambeau turned in a very solid round after grabbing the opening-round lead with a sizzling 7-under 65. The LIV Golf standout battled the elements while holding the lead throughout the round until a bogey on the 18th saw him drop back to 6-under. Regardless of the finish, DeChambeau will be thrilled with his place thus far after never previously posting a top-20 finish in the Masters.
Scheffler once again rode superior ball-striking and outstanding decision-making to plot his way around the course without too much danger. He made three bogeys after playing the opening round without one, but the World No. 1 mixed in three birdies to shoot even on the day.
Homa was forced to complete five holes from his opening round on Friday morning before turning around 52 minutes later and playing a full 18. His entire game was on-point throughout, with his approach play standing well above the field. The World No. 11 hit a whopping 83% of his greens in the second round, all under the added pressure of playing alongside Tiger Woods.
Woods is not on the first page of the leaderboard, but the five-time champion grabbed another slice of Masters history on Friday. Despite being forced to play 23 holes, Woods battled his way to a 1-over total through 36 holes to set the new Masters record with his 24th straight made cut. While he sits seven shots off the pace, Woods only has 21 players between him and top spot.
There are stars at the top of the board, but Friday brought plenty of woes for some of the biggest names in golf. Rory McIlroy failed to make a birdie for just the third time in his Masters career to fall 10 shots off the pace at 4-over. Defending champion Jon Rahm also has plenty of work ahead on the weekend, as the Spaniard is a full 11 shots back of the lead.
If McIlroy and Rahm’s performances were disappointing, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Dustin Johnson’s were downright shocking. Spieth’s morning finish to Round 1 saw him card a quadruple-bogey 9 on the 15th to eventually post a 79 and miss the second cut for the second time in his Masters career. Thomas played his last four holes in an astonishing 7-over to also miss the cut, while Johnson posted the two highest scores of his career at Augusta with a 78 and 79 to finish ahead of only three players.
