Reed leads Masters, Woods makes cut
Augustus: American Patrick Reed posted a six-under-par 66 to take a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Masters.
World number 24 Reed made nine birdies to end nine under, ahead of Australian Marc Leishman who signed for a 67.
First-round leader Jordan Spieth, the 2015 winner, returned a 74 and is five adrift alongside Rory McIlroy (71). Tiger Woods will play the weekend after finishing four over, one inside the cut mark, but defending champion Sergio Garcia closed a distant 15 over.
Reed, joint second at last year’s PGA Championship but with a highest of tied for 22nd in four previous Masters appearances, birdied his first three holes and had two more runs of three successive birdies to reach 10 under.
A bogey stopped each birdie run and his first three-putt of the tournament, at the 16th, dropped him to nine under. However, he has had only 51 putts in his first two rounds, with 22 one-putt greens.
“I was really steady throughout the entire day and got myself in a position where I could attack the pin positions,” said Reed.
“You have to give yourself opportunities and then I let my putter do the work. I’ve been working really hard on my putting speed, the biggest thing has been getting the speed down, and letting the ball hit the hole. My speed been really solid.”