It’s crowdedatthe top
Johnson, Thomas among 4 tied for lead with play halted; tiger 5 shots back
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The buzz was back Friday at Augusta National, loud as ever. It wasn’t from any of the patrons because they’re not allowed in this most unusual Masters inNovember. It came fromthe constant humming of motors of the sub-air system beneath the soft turf in an attempt to make the course a little firmer, a lot more like a typical Masters in April.
“You have to really throw all the past knowledge out the window this week, as weird as it is,” said Justin Thomas, who hit a few short-game shots that required trust and imagination for rounds of 66-69.
That gave Thomas a share of the lead at 9 under with Dustin Johnson (65-70), Cameron Smith (67-68) and Abraham Ancer (6867), a Masters rookie who doesn’t know this course any other way.
“A lot of the history and things that you knowabout the golf course, it can sometimes hurt you this week because of what you’re used to,” Thomas said. “But at the end of the day, it is a lot softer and a lot more scorable.”
Progress could be measured in greens that began to pick up some pace and scoring that didn’t get out of control.
Johnson, looking every bit like the No. 1 player in the world, had four birdies on the back nine in the morning for a 65, breaking by two shots his best round at Augusta. He birdied his way through Amen Corner at the start of his second round and quickly reached 10 under.
Johnson was slowed by a three-putt bogey on the 14th and a 3-iron that caught enough of a gust to come up short on the par-5 15th and roll back into the water, leading to another bogey.
He finished with a birdie for a 70 and was atop the leaderboard with the others at 9-under 135 when the second round was halted by darkness, a product of a weather delay at the start of the tournament that has put the Masters behind schedule.
The forecast for the weekend is favorable, warm and mostly sunny.
“I think it can firm up a little bit, but it’s going to be tough for it to get firm,” Johnson said. “I think it’s going to be soft enough to where you’re going to have to attack the golf course and play aggressive and keep swinging like I am. I like where I’m at. I like my position.”
Still to be determined is what that position will be. Hideki Matsuyama was at 8 under with three holes remaining, while Jon Rahm was at 8 under and had six holes left.
Another Masters rookie, Sungjae Im (70), was in the group another shot behind that included Patrick Cantlay (66), who contended for the green jacket last year. Cantlay was among four players who had 66, the lowest score when play was stopped for the night.
Among those still on the course was Tiger Woods, stuck in neutral on a day when the greens picked up a little more speed and the autumn leaves shook slightly with some wind. Bryson DeChambeau was struggling to make the cut after a lost ball that led to a triple bogey.
What two days have shown is thatMasters experience only goes so far on a soft course with rye grass that isn’t grown in quite the way it usually is in April.
Woods left the course Thursday with only three players ahead of him. He was tied for 10th when the first round ended, and he was tied for 22nd at 4 under, five shots behind the leaders, when he left Friday night with two birdies on the par 5s and bogeys on the third and seventh, the latter from a tee shot close enough to the Georgia pines that his only shot was to hit a runner into the front bunker.
Phil Mickelson finished the second round at 5 under and was tied for 19th place.
Thosewhowillbesticking aroundare young and old — 23-year-old U.S. Amateur runnerup John Augenstein and 63-year-old Bernhard Langer. The two-time Masters champion shot 68 in the morning on a long, soft course. He followed with a 73 and will be the oldest player to make the cut at Augusta National.