Reed’s stellar second round puts Tiger, and field, in hole
The good news for Tiger Woods: He made the cut. The bad news for the four-time Masters champ: He’s 13 shots behind Patrick Reed. It took 30 holes before Woods (right) birdied a par 5 this week, and he rallied with a 1-under effort over the last six holes Friday to finish 4 over. Reed’s second-round 66 put him at 9 under, two shots ahead of Marc Leishman. “I just kept myself out of trouble and let my putter do the work,” Reed said.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Patrick Reed is leading a major championship for the first time, and his confidence is so high that he can only see what’s ahead of him.
Maybe that’s just as well at this Masters.
Reed started the front nine with three consecutive birdies. He then answered Marc Leishman’s bold shot for an eagle by polishing off another run of three birdies. It added up to a 6-under-par 66 for a 9-under 135 total and a two-shot lead over Leishman going into the weekend at Augusta National.
Right behind them are five major champions.
Nowhere near him are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the two names that generated so much of the buzz for a Masters that otherwise is living up to expectations. None of it matters to Reed. “I believe that if I play the golf that I know how to play that I can win majors,” Reed said. “There’s a lot of holes left, and I just need to go out and keep to my game plan, play some solid golf and just go out and continue shooting in the 60s and see if it gets the job done.”
Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson still have a say in that.
Woods and Mickelson probably don’t.
Woods hit one shot into a cluster of magnolia trees and another into Rae’s Creek. He didn’t make a birdie until the 13th hole and had to settle for a 3-over 75, leaving him 13 shots behind. No one has ever won the Masters when trailing by more than eight shots going into the weekend.
“I’m going to have to shoot a special weekend, and I need help,” Woods said. “I’m not in control of my own destiny.”
Mickelson smacked a shot into the trees trying to escape a forest and made triple bogey, deposited a tee shot into Rae’s Creek on No. 12 for a double bogey and shot a 79, matching his worst score at Augusta National. He started the day four shots out of the lead. He ended the day making the cut on the number.
Even without them, the show is just getting started.
Reed was a runner-up at the PGA Championship last summer, though he played the final hole without a chance to win. His best performance on the big stage has been in the Ryder Cup.
“Going to treat it just like another day, go out and try to do what I’ve been doing and stick to my game plan and try to make some more birdies,” Reed said.
Leishman seized on his moment with the best shot of the day. His tee shot on the 15th was too far left, leaving trees between him and the flag. Instead of laying up from 210 yards, he closed with the face of a 5-iron, aimed toward the right bunker.
“I meant to hook it 30 yards, and I put 40 yards of hook on it,” Leishman said with a smile.
The ball narrowly cleared the mound at the front of the green, caught the slope and settled 6 feet away to set up an eagle.
“We’re not here to lay up,” Leishman said. “It’s a major. You’re going to have to take some chances at some point during the week if you want to win, and that was a time where I thought I had to take a chance. I’ve been hitting that shot well on the range and I thought it was a prime opportunity to give it a test. And it came off.”
Stenson (70) was four shots behind. McIlroy (71) is off to his best 36-hole Masters start in seven years as he pursues the fourth leg of the career Grand Slam. Spieth lost his two-shot lead on the first hole and was on the verge of getting left behind until he made a key par putt to close out the front nine with a 40, and then salvaged a 74 to join McIlroy five shots behind Reed.
“I’ve always been comfortable around the lead,” McIlroy said. “It’s a place that I’m thankfully quite familiar with and know how to deal with.”
Looming was Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world. He made a 45-foot par putt on the 16th to atone for several birdie putts in the 10-foot range he missed. Johnson had a 68 and was six shots behind, along with Thomas, who had a 67.
Eleven of the 17 players still under par at the halfway point can be found among the top 20 in the world.
Woods made bogey on the opening hole with a sand wedge from the fairway. After his second shot on the fifth bounded over the green and into the magnolias, he took a penalty drop to clear room through the branches. But he put that in the bunker and made double bogey. Very little went right except for two birdies on the par 5s on the back nine.
Looking at the white leaderboards only made him feel worse. The cut is for the top 50 and ties and anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Woods kept seeing Reed make birdies, and he knew he was well outside the 10 shots.
Woods finished tied for 40th. Doug Ferguson is an Associated Press writer.