One constant at this year’s Masters has been Charley Hoffman atop the leaderboard. He’s tied with three other players atop the leaderboard at 4-under-par; Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, and Thomas Pieters.
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Garcia intends to take a better frame of mind into this weekend than his defeated statement reflected five years ago. “I just don’t remember them”.
“I know that anything can happen!” said Spieth. As the top-ranked player amidst the current crop of contender in Augusta, Fowler is in a prime position to secure his first major title.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Jordan Spieth bounced back from a quadruple-bogey in the opening round to shoot 69, putting himself right back in the mix at even-par 144 for the tournament.
“Being a part of a major, it’s exciting already”.
“I’m in a good spot”, he said.
Here’s the parallel to those five players: None have won a major championship, and Garcia and Fowler have faced the most roadblocks to that goal. He may never be a PGA Tour star, but a Masters win would make people look at him a bit differently. Augusta is a course that he has moaned about in the past, but with a positive mental equilibrium and par 5 holes to present opportunities, he has every chance if his putter behaves.
It’s a feat that could also be achieved by 22-year-old Spaniard Jon Rahm, who was sharing sixth on 143 with Americans Fred Couples and Ryan Moore and England’s Justin Rose, the reigning Olympic champion.
Jordan Spieth reacts to a missed putt on the 15th hole during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 7, 2017, in Augusta, Ga. His four-shot lead was gone in 11 holes, and he steadied himself the rest of the way to limit the damage to a 75. “I put really nice strokes on them, and I finally got them to go”.
Garcia said he received what he described as a “beautiful” message of encouragement from Olazabal on Wednesday.
Since making a nine at the 15th on Thursday, Spieth is seven under and showed his quality with a stunning approach shot at nine that left a two-foot putt for birdie.
A bogey on the fourth was the first blemish to the scorecard. That group included former Masters champions Adam Scott (69) and Charl Schwartzel (68). Sergio Garcia knew the score when no one else did and had his first share of the lead in his 19th time playing Augusta National. They didn’t come (Thursday), which was great.
But the first man off today is Jason Day, who will play on his own as an odd number of players made it through the cut. “And then, with the benign conditions, hopefully, for the weekend, I can try to make some more birdies”.
Fowler, who shot an 80 in the opening round previous year to miss the cut, made the biggest move Friday with a 5-under 67.
“It’s going to be a fun weekend”, Fowler said after a 5-under 67, the best score of another wind-swept day.
Also among the big second-round movers were 2013 Masters victor Adam Scott, the Australian charging up the leaderboard with a solid ball-striking display.
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Branden Grace has continued his fine start to move to 2- for the day through three holes. It may be hard for just one golfer, as many others are in the hunt, meaning we could get a handful of top contenders after Round 3.
