Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after making a putt on the 18th hole during the second round at the Masters golf tournament. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — There are moments at the Masters where the entire field seems to heat up at once, when birdies and eagles are flying all over the course. You can sense it, even if you don’t quite know what’s happening thanks to the whole no-cell-phones thing. You hear cheers welling up from somewhere in the vicinity of Amen Corner, or somewhere up near the clubhouse, and you know there’s movement on the leaderboard … but you have to wait until the hand-operated scoreboards display a new set of red numbers to know exactly what that movement is.
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And man, was there movement all over the leaderboard Friday. Rory McIlroy leaped up from the depths to card a magnificent 6-under round that left him just two strokes off the lead. Bryson DeChambeau started hot and maintained his pace to finish off a four-under round to stand at -7, a stroke off the lead. Matt McCarty — it’s OK if you don’t know who he is — was simply spectacular.
Matter of fact, two of the only players not to make significant moves were Justin Rose, the Thursday night leader, and Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion. Rose still held the outright lead, but his margin shrunk from three strokes to just one after his 1-under round.
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“My good is good,” Rose said after his round. “I feel like I’m showing much more quality this year in my game than I have done the last couple years. I’m not worried about my good stuff. It’s just about making the average a little bit better and getting that closer to my good stuff so you can compete week-in, week-out.”
After what, for him, was a routine four-under Thursday, Scheffler struggled a bit on Friday … again, by his mighty standards. He bounced back and forth between -4 and -6, never exceeding either. The most interesting part of Scheffler’s round came at the very end, where he ended up buried in the magnolias alongside the 18th fairway. Scheffler ended the day at -5, three strokes off the lead.
The story of the day: McIlroy’s revival. His chances for a green jacket, and a career grand slam, appeared dead after Thursday’s two-double-bogey misfire on Thursday. But McIlroy returned with a mindset of steadiness and aggression, and crafted one of the finest rounds on the course on Friday, one that included a five-under stretch on the back nine. He’s right back in this thing.
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“I feel like I just did a good job of resetting,” McIlroy said. “I started today with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. I just tried to stay really, really patient. I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round.”
Rory McIlroy was seven strokes back after Round 1, but only two back after Round 2. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
DeChambeau, McIlroy’s old Pinehurst nemesis, has spent more time on the range than anyone in the field, and all the tinkering has paid off. He’s making smart shots, minimizing damage, powering drives into the shadow of the flagstick and converting when he’s got the opportunity. As last year’s U.S. Open showed, DeChambeau has the grit to chase down a leader; he’ll be a tough out over the weekend.
“I think grounding yourself is super important, realizing where you’re at, knowing how many holes you have left, knowing there’s a lot of golf left,” DeChambeau said. “Not getting too far ahead of yourself is important, and that’s something that you have to learn over the course of time with a lot of experience. You have to put yourself in position. You have to fail. You have to lose. You have to win. You have to come from behind. You have to hold the lead. All those expectations and feelings have to get conquered in your mind.”
Also very much in the hunt: Tyrrell [censored] Hatton, who has absolutely no [censored] problem speaking whatever the [censored] is on his mind about the [censored] golf course. Hatton, one of LIV’s few remaining credible major-level golfers, has the game to compete for a green jacket; does he have the mental discipline to hold it together against what will surely be a fierce weekend course.
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Outside of Scheffler, nobody within four strokes of the lead has ever won a green jacket, and several have no experience even competing in majors. That means — assuming Scheffler doesn’t simply go Full Scottie and annihilate the field — we’re in for both star power and storylines, the lifeblood of the Masters. Can McIlroy finally complete that career grand slam? Will DeChambeau, Rose, Jason Day or Shane Lowry burnish their major resumes? Or will an unknown like McCarty, who had eight birdies in 12 holes Friday, step up and claim golf’s greatest prize?
With clear skies and weather around 70 degrees, the conditions will be perfect for a remarkable Masters weekend. Someone’s going home very happy, very soon.
“We’ve got 36 holes to go on a very, very tough golf course. Anything can happen,” McIlroy said. “All I’m focused on is trying to hit a good tee shot in the fairway on the first hole tomorrow.”
This news was originally published on this post .
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