Saturday 8 April 2017 01:46, UK
Rickie Fowler is hoping to draw on past experiences as he aims to turn a share of the halfway lead at the Masters into a first major title.
The American missed the cut at Augusta last year and will have high hopes of improving on a best finish of tied-fifth in 2014 after a superb round moved him alongside Sergio Garcia, Charley Hoffman and Thomas Pieters at the top of a congested leaderboard.
The world No 8 carded four birdies and an eagle to go with just one bogey in a best-of-the-day 67 and, with confidence high after victory at the Honda Classic five weeks ago, he is primed for his major breakthrough after several near misses.
"Some of it's not just in majors, other tournaments being in contention, getting the job done at Honda just recently and playing well in these last few events, really just sticking to our game plan and making sure we go through the process and getting committed.
"On the weekends, I tend to try and walk a little slower, make sure we're taking our time because my tendency is to kind of speed up and go a little too quickly.
"The more that I can slow down thoughts, my walking, and make sure that I kind of think through everything and not get too quick out there, that's one of my keys.
"I love looking up and seeing the big leaderboards, it's a cool thing about Augusta, very old school with the non‑electronic leaderboards out there.
"It's a lot of fun to see your name up there, so hopefully I can go ahead and keep it up on the big leaderboards."
Phil Mickelson remains in contention for Green Jacket number four, despite a round that had threatened to get away from him down the stretch.
Having started the day at one under par, the 46-year-old bogeyed the opening hole but his bid to replace Jack Nicklaus as the oldest champion in Masters history caught fire around the turn as he got to three under par for the championship.
Four bogies in his final eight holes meant he dropped back to level par, but the American is poised to make a run in conditions he believe will be ideal for scoring.
"It was a hard-fought day, unfortunately I let a really good round slip away at the end," he said.
"I played hard all day but I didn't putt as well as I have been putting, they didn't quite go in and I missed more short ones than I have missed in a long time and I will have to improve on that tomorrow.
"But my game feels pretty good and it was a tough day.
"I expect the greens to be soft and I expect us to be able to get after them and make birdies and eagles - I'm looking forward to that opportunity."
Alongside Mickelson and Adam Scott is another former champion in Jordan Spieth, who moved into contention again at a venue where he has the scarcely believable record of 2-1-2.
A birdie at the last means he is at level par for the tournament and just four shots off Fowler's lead having improved his score by six shots from a disappointing opening 76.
"It was very satisfying - I thought even par for the two rounds would be a really good score," said Spieth.
"After yesterday's round I thought I had to post something in the red to have any chance and at making a run and I capped off a couple late in the day at 16 and 18 to move to even for the two rounds.
"I think the course is going to get very firm and it will be similar to last year and 2014. Keeping the ball below the hole is so key and leaving your first putts within three of four feet is so challenging around here but that, too, is key."
As ever, Fred Couples thrilled the patrons, rolling back the years with another fine display to sit just three shots off the lead and conjure memories of Tom Watson's charge at Turnberry in 2009.
The 1992 champion has a great record around Augusta and prior to the last couple of years had defied age and back problems to record five successive top 20 finishes and the 57-year-old feels age is no barrier to his weekend hopes.
"I'm a competitor, so I like to believe in myself," he said.
"I like to think that I've had a lot of good finishes here, and my goal is to keep fighting with these guys. I'm three behind but tomorrow, it's a tough day and I'm not thinking winning this tournament, but I'm thinking continuing to play well and see what happens.
"I really know the course very well, but that doesn't mean you're going to have two great days of golf.
"I feel like my age is still okay, because I can drive it far enough but I'm not long like I used to be on this kind of a course, but it still plays where I can still reach a lot of these greens with shorter clubs to make the ball stop around the hole."
