Leader board stacked with four at 4 under
gap that existed after Hoffman’s opening 65 narrowed like a London street on Friday when only nine players finished under par.
While only three players were within five shots of the lead Thursday, 15 are within that many heading into the weekend. Among those are a number of major champions, including Justin Rose (143), Jordan Spieth (144), Phil Mickelson (144), Adam Scott (144) and Rory McIlroy (145). Even former Masters champion Fred Couples, who is 57, is only three shots from the lead.
“I’m four back. I’m in a good spot heading into the weekend,” said Mickelson (73), who bogeyed three of his final five holes. “I just feel I should be a few more ahead. I’m playing well. I’m very optimistic I’m going to make a good run.”
Fowler had the day’s best round (67) that included just one bogey — at the par-5 15th when he knocked his second shot into the water behind the green. But he came right back with a birdie at the par3 16th and narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie at No. 18 that would have given him the outright lead.
Fowler and the other 52 players who made the cut will get some help with warmer, calmer conditions on the weekend.
“This weekend is going to be definitely a lot of different golf,” Fowler said. “I think there are going to be a lot more birdies, some more eagles. These conditions were a bit more of a surprise. This was something different that we’re not used to seeing. So it’s going to be back to something a little bit more normal these next two days.”
Garcia has held the lead only once at the Masters — in 2013 when he opened with a 66 — and has never finished better than fourth in 18 previous appearances at Augusta National. After the third round in 2012, when he shot 75, he famously admitted he’s not good enough to win a major.
But he came out with a flurry Friday, making birdies on the first three holes and closed with two more on the final four holes to shoot 69, tied for second-low round of the day.
1‑under “I would have taken par before I started, because the day was at least as tough as [Thursday], and we saw how difficult it was [Thursday],” Garcia said. “But you know, when I started like that, and then I started hitting some really good shots and rolling in some good putts here and there, I thought that, yeah, maybe I could shoot 3 or 4 under, and that would be obviously amazing.”
Amazing is what Spieth has been at Augusta National, where he has finished 2-1-2 in his previous three Masters appearances. After opening with a 75 that included a quadruplebogey-9 at No. 15, Spieth battled back with a 69 that included birdies on two of the final three holes to get within four shots of the lead.
“We’re in a position now where we, I think, can go out there and win this thing and certainly make a run,” Spieth said. “That right there just kind of gives me chills, because after [Thursday] I was really disappointed being 10 shots off the lead.”
Pieters opened with a bogey at the first hole, but didn’t make another the rest of the day in a round of 68 that included an eagle at the par-5 13th and 8-foot birdie at No. 14. He will be trying to become the first player in 38 years to win the Masters in his first appearance, though he doesn’t appear to be awed by the opportunity.
“People talk about Augusta so much, it’s a lovely course, it’s so special, but it’s just another golf course,” Pieters said. “You just have to hit the fairway and hit the greens.”