Surging Sergio in contention at Masters
Surging Sergio Garcia is looking to end his distinction as one of the game’s best without a major title.
Garcia had four birdies on his first nine holes Friday at the Masters to wipe out Charley Hoffman’s historic four-shot lead. Of course, Hoffman helped with a run of five bogeys over six holes at Augusta National to turn his early runaway into a Friday free-for-all.
Garcia finished with six birdies on the way to a 69 and was tied with first-round leader Charley Hoffman early in the second round Friday.
Garcia had a chance to take the lead alone, but he missed a six-foot putt for birdie on the 18th green.
Hoffman held a four-shot lead after Thursday, the biggest Masters’ advantage after one round in 62 years. But like Jack Burke Jr. who in 1955 followed his 67 with a 76, Hoffman also could not build on his hot start, shooting a 3-over 75 after his opening 65.
For a while, it looked like Garcia’s chances at winning the Masters had taken a major hit.
The tournament’s internal scoring system listed Garcia with a triple-bogey seven on the 10th hole, briefly dropping him four shots behind Hoffman. It was soon announced that it was a scoring error and Garcia had merely made bogey on the hole, leaving him at 2-under par for the tournament.
Apparently, Garcia had hit a provisional ball following a poor tee shot to start his final nine. But he found his original ball and played it from there, making a five instead of incurring a penalty if he had to play his second shot.
Once the error was discovered, Garcia was put back at 2-under.
After a wind gusts of nearly 40 miles per hour in the opening round, Friday’s conditions were sunny and much milder – opening the way for several capable challengers looking to fill the void left by the withdrawal of Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player and a heavy favourite at the season’s first major.
Hoffman acknowledged he was simply trying to make pars in the tricky conditions on Thursday – gusts flung hats off patrons’ heads and sent eggsalad sandwich wrappers blowing across greens and fairways – so he wouldn’t shoot himself out of the event.
He did that, and then some. Hoffman found himself in better spots than he hoped and “was able to convert those birdies and turn it into a fantastic round.”
Things didn’t go as well in round two with Hoffman making just one birdie compared to nine on Thursday.
Lee Westwood, perhaps the best player without a major, began the second round in third place at 2-under. But he struggled on the front nine for a second straight day, following the 39 he shot Thursday with a 38 to fall back.