CHOICE OF EXPERTS
RANKING
Brooks Koepka stormed the Augusta National on Thursday with a round of 65 and the American LIV golfer kept up the pace Friday morning. One of the first players on the court, Koepka added a score of 67 to retain the tournament lead alone.
The second round of the Masters Tournament was interrupted for a second time around 4:20 p.m. due to bad weather in Augusta. The action will resume Saturday morning around 8 a.m. for the conclusion of this second round.
Koepka scored three birdies and an eagle to continue his dominance. Winner of two US Open and two PGA Championships, Koepka is aiming for a first title in Augusta.
“The biggest advantage I had today was playing early. But it was really solid from me today. I didn’t miss much, ”said the 32-year-old American, who seems in full possession of his faculties, after a serious knee injury.
An amateur plays the spoilsport
In pursuit of Koepka is 23-year-old amateur player Sam Bennett. After a first-round 68 in his first outing, Bennett continued his good work Friday. The American had five birdies in the second round and is four shots behind Koepka.
Behind Koepka are also Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland, who shared the lead with him after one round. They both started their second round in the early afternoon.
Rahm started his round with seven pars before making his first birdie on the eighth hole to join Bennett for second. The Spaniard then followed up with another birdie to complete his nine to go alone in second place.
“I’m confident, I hope to continue on my momentum,” said Rahm, who can, in the event of victory, take over the chair of world No. 1 from Scottie Scheffler.
Woods tries to hang on
As for Tiger Woods, he’ll have to find a way to offer a better round than Thursday if he wants to reach the weekend rounds for his 23rd straight appearance at the Masters.
The five-time winner of the event and 15 times Grand Slam title holder, maintained his chances of going after the four rounds. In par after 11 holes (a birdie, a bogey), he still totals +2, the limit set for the cut he only missed once. He was an amateur in 1996 when it happened, a year before his first title on the same Augusta course.
For comparison, the cut was made at +5 last year and at +4 in 2021.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler had a tough second round. He turned in a 75 and is 11 shots behind Koepka after 36 holes.
For his part, Rory McIlroy had a terrible day with five bogeys and no birdies. At +5, McIlroy will miss the weekend rounds for the second time in three years at Augusta.
Ontario’s Mackenzie Hughes is par. Friday, he was at minus four after 13 holes, when the round was interrupted. After his Corey Conners victory in Texas last week, the Canadian was unable to qualify for the weekend rounds.
