Sunday 14 April 2019 01:46, UK
Five major champions head into the weekend of the 83rd Masters in a share of the lead, while Tiger Woods is just one shot behind following a dramatic second day at Augusta National.
Francesco Molinari, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen sit atop of a heavily-congested leaderboard, with no fewer than 28 players within five of the lead.
Woods is the headline act in the chasing pack and could have been out in front, had he not missed excellent birdie chances on the final two greens, and his 68 puts him "right where he wants to be" heading into what promises to be a riveting weekend.
Woods, 14 years on from the last of his four Masters triumphs, made a cautious start before making his first birdie at the fourth only to give the shot back at the next, and he chalked up another two on his card at the sixth before getting into trouble at the long eighth and running up a bogey-six.
But his putter warmed up on the ninth and he then recorded the first birdie of the day from anyone in the field at the tough 11th, and one of the more bizarre birdies of his stellar career followed at the 14th, where he managed to thread his second through the pines and onto the green before almost being upended by an over-enthusiastic marshal.
The 43-year-old shook off the blow to his ankle to roll in the putt for a three, and he got another to drop at the 15th before mis-reading the pace of two further opportunities from 10-feet at 17 and 18.
Woods is alongside Justin Harding, Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele on six under, with Ian Poulter a shot further back, while Rory McIlroy was again out of sorts as he had to battle hard just to make the cut, something which world No 1 Justin Rose was unable to do for the first time here.
Molinari was the first man into the clubhouse on seven under after he managed a rare bogey-free round while rolling in five birdie putts in a serene 67 - completing 36 holes with just one blemish on his scorecard.
The Open champion, whose first experience of the Masters was as a caddie for brother, Edoardo, 13 years ago, picked up an early birdie at the third and added two more at eight and nine to turn in 33, and he converted a precise short-iron at the treacherous 12th.
Molinari was unable to take advantage of the long 13th, but he atoned at the 15th and parred safely in to claim the early clubhouse lead, which was soon matched by course-specialist Day.
Find great courses near you with GOLFNOW
The Australian looked in danger of having to withdraw as he was undergoing treatment for a back problem on the second hole of his first round, but he defied the injury to get round in 70 and he was moving with more freedom on day two as he carded six birdies and just one bogey at the 12th.
Koepka, chasing his third major win of the last four, shared the overnight lead and began his second round with a confident birdie at the first to raise the prospect of opening up a big lead over the chasing pack by the halfway stage.
But a poor drive at the second, an error he compounded by scuttling his second into an unplayable lie in the foliage, led to an ugly double-bogey seven at the second after it took him five strokes just to find the putting surface.
The reigning US Open and PGA champion would recover to make four birdies and just one dropped shot at the sixth in a workmanlike 71, and Adam Scott later made it a four-way tie at the top but was left to rue a costly miss from two feet at the 16th which cost him the outright lead.
The 2013 champion had become the first man to get to eight under when he followed birdies at 12 and 13 with a superb eagle at the 15th, but his momentary lapse on the 16th green was his lone mistake of the round as he safely parred home for a 68, missing a decent chance from 10 feet at the last to reclaim the lead for himself.
Oosthuizen, runner-up to Bubba Watson in 2012, was swinging as well as he ever has and backing up his sound tee-to-green game with some composed putting as he made seven birdies and just the one dropped shot - a scrappy six at the eighth - in a high-quality 66 from the South African.
Surprise-package Harding, ranked a lowly 716th in the world just 16 months ago, continued his impressive debut and reeled off five birdies in six holes in a remarkable back-nine charge, which fizzled out slightly when he bogeyed the 18th for the second day running.
Johnson, who has a great chance to return to world No 1 with Rose missing the cut, recovered from an opening bogey to return an efficient 70, and Schauffele completed the logjam on six under when he handed in the low score of the tournament - draining his eighth birdie putt of the round at the last to cap a classy 65.
Poulter could not match the heights of his first-round 68 as he had to dig deep to get round in 71 to close on five under alongside Jon Rahm, who birdied two of the first three holes but then made 15 consecutive pars in a quiet 70.
Phil Mickelson is one further back after an erratic 73 - six strokes more than day one - while McIlroy will need something special over the weekend to contend for an elusive Masters title after he again failed to keep the mistakes at bay in a frustrating 71.
McIlroy's card included a pair of twos and a rare eagle at the long eighth, but he also bogeyed two of the par-fives - the second and 13th, where he found Rae's Creek with his second - and he did well to avoid another at 15 when he got up-and-down from 180 yards to save par as he ended the day seven strokes off the pace on level par.
Find great courses near you with GOLFNOW
