Willett finds sort of form that won him green jacket
DAnnY WILLETT has waited a long t i me f or even a glimpse of a Masters encore. Ever since he gratefully seized Jordan Spieth’s unwitting gift to claim the green jacket in 2016, in fact. That all changed in the second round yesterday as he threw off the shackles with a brilliant burst of scoring.
Over the course of nine holes, the 33- year- old Yorkshireman picked up no fewer than seven shots on his way to a fabulous 66 to move firmly into contention on seven under at halfway.
It was the first time he had broken par, let alone shot in the sixties, since that unforgettable afternoon four-and-a-half years ago, and the first time he’s made it to the weekend since then.
It was also the lowest round of his Masters career, beating the 67 with which he closed out proceedings for his win.
After the fine opening round from Paul Casey, Willett wasn’t the only Englishman to enjoy the warm november sunshine.
Tommy Fleetwood started well back after completing a first round 71 early on and lost more ground after opening with a bogey. But he quickly made progress with three birdies in a row from the second and picked up more shots at the eighth, 14th and 15th.
One final birdie at the 18th added up to a 66 to move on to the same score as Willett.
The leading trio on nine under were American Justin Thomas, Australian Cameron Smith and Mexican Abraham Ancer. Smith picked up five shots in his last four holes for a 68 while Ancer shot 67.
This quintet were beneficiaries of world no 1 Dustin Johnson’s curious act of largesse after he looked ready to walk away with the tournament.
The 36-year-old birdied the 18th to polish off a first round 65 to tie Casey and then, starting from the 10th, went straight back out and birdied three of his first four holes to establish daylight between himself and everyone else.
There is a reason, however, why the wonderfully-gifted American has only one major to his name and here was a telltale sign as he ran up inexplicable back-to-back bogeys. The one at the 15th, in particular, was hard to watch.
Given the softness of the green, he didn’t need to take any risks with the water at the front but he duly found it. He finished with a 70 to be on nine under.
Despite being tied for the lead, Thomas is another high-profile American who will go into the weekend with mixed feelings that he didn’t make the most of his opportunities.
Unusually for him, he missed two short birdie putts late on in his first-round 66. Starting his second round from the 10th, he bogeyed that hole and the 13th before responding with four straight birdies to close out that nine. Just like Johnson, however, he got in his own way, running up a bad double bogey at the first.
The inability of this pair to seize the moment led to a condensed leaderboard filled with the usual suspects and the less well-known ones like Ancer and Smith.
One man fast moving into the former category is Patrick Cantlay, who made a marvellous run at winning last year.
If he can match his weekend rounds of 64, 68 on this occasion he’ll certainly be wearing green tomorrow. The arch-putter shot 66 to move to eight under.
As f or Smith, his f ortunes changed completing following a marvellous approach to the 15th for a tap-in eagle and he followed it with three more gains.
neither he nor Ancer are among the bombers of the modern game but they’re straight hitters and proficient around the greens.
After Willett began his second round with an ugly double bogey at the 10th, a familiar tale of bitter disappointment appeared about to unfold once more.
The halfway cut at Augusta might be the easiest one to make i n the majors owing to the relatively small field, yet Willett hadn’t even sniffed it since 2016.
now, at one over for the event he was outside the cut mark once more, as he moved to the par-five 13th. Given his parlous situation, Willett knew he had no choice but to take on the flag at this glorious risk-reward hole. Sometimes, one shot is all it takes. A fabulous long iron to six feet and Willett rolled in the eagle putt.
At the 14th another fine iron to 12ft yielded another gain, followed by another at the 15th. Suddenly, it was like 2016 all over again as he birdied the 17th. On the front nine, he birdied the second and the third.
From looking like another missed cut, he had moved into the top six thanks to his blistering run.
Willett cooled off thereafter but one more birdie to finish left him in a far better frame of mind than he’s been on Friday afternoons at the Masters in recent times.
Fleetwood, of course, has served his time i n majors i n recent seasons. He told sportsmail on Tuesday he was in the frame of mind to transform a moribund season by his standards and he’s given himself the chance.
Another who’s not far behind on five under is 50-year- old threetime Masters champion Phil Mickelson, on the same mark as Brooks Koepka.
Among the afternoon wave who knew they’d have to complete their second rounds this morning were the l i kes of Casey, Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods, who both shot 68.
Another was Bryson DeChambeau, who had a horror start, losing a ball at the par-four third. With the wind picking up, all these players would have been glad Johnson and Thomas didn’t make the most of their chance.