4-way tie at the top of Masters after Day 2
Rickie Fowler only wanted to make sure the wind didn’t blow him away over two tough rounds at the Masters. More than just survive on Friday, he posted a 5-under 67 that gave him a share of the lead for the first time in a major. He has plenty of company. Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters and Charley Hoffman joined him in the largest 36-hole logjam at Augusta National in 44 years. And the fun is just starting. The wind began to subside as the pines cast long shadows across the course late in the afternoon, and the forecast is close to perfection for the rest of the weekend, with mild temperatures and hardly any wind.
That won’t make it any easier, as survival gives way to what could be a shootout among some of golf’s biggest stars.
Fifteen players were separated by a mere five shots going into the
weekend, a group that includes Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, and even 57-year-old Fred Couples.
“I knew the first two days would be tough. We really needed to make sure we could fight through it and stay in the tournament,” Fowler said. “We’re in a good spot. It’s going to be a fun weekend. We’re going to see a lot of good golf and battle it out.”
Fowler began his move early by holing a bunker shot for eagle on the second hole, and even a bogey from the water behind the green on the par-5 15th green didn’t ruin his day. He bounced back with a birdie and stay in the lead.
Garcia, playing his 70th consecutive major and still looking for that first victory to define an otherwise strong
career, wasn’t the least bit bothered by seeing the wrong score for him on a leaderboard behind the 13th green when a penalty for a lost ball was mistakenly attributed to him. He fired a 3-iron across the water and into the wind to the 15th green for a twoputt birdie and shot 69.
Pieters made an eagle on the par-5 13th on his way to a 68. Hoffman was simply happy to join them. 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.
The leaders were at 4-under 140.
Hoffman will be in the final group going into the weekend at the Masters for the second time in three years, with one big difference. Two years ago, Hoffman was five shots behind Spieth in what turned out to be a runaway for the young Texan.
This time, the Masters appears to be up for grabs.
Press center unveiled
Augusta National has unveiled a new press center that could be mistaken for a RitzCarlton.
Those who covered the Masters dating back to 1989 and earlier remember when the press center at one time was a Quonset hut. And even that was an improvement over the days when reporters were housed in a tent or, before that, working on the balcony of the clubhouse.
But just as the canvas-covered press center gave way to the barrel-shaped, corrugated-steel hut, that structure was replaced in 1990 by a state-of-the-art facility that in turn was supplanted this year by even more posh digs.
The two-story building that was erected in a year looks like a Southern mansion from the outside, and while Masters officials haven’t provided figures on the size or the cost, it’s not a stretch to call it the Taj Mahal of workrooms.