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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Michael Jones

The Masters 2019: Francesco Molinari shares four-way lead as Tiger Woods lurks just one-shot back at Augusta

Major winners Francesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day and Adam Scott shared top spot at the Masters on Friday at the end of the second round, but it was Tiger Woods who commanded the spotlight once again at Augusta National.

Woods brought the roars back to the famed venue with a brilliant four-under-par 68, putting himself on track for a fifth Green Jacket.

At six-under-par 138, the American is just one shot off the leaders heading into 'moving day'.

After an ordinary outward nine featuring three birdies offset by a pair of bogeys, Woods embarked on one of his trademark charges, carding three birdies after the turn to shoot up the leaderboard.

Relive all the action below.

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of The Masters.

Brooks Koepka, who has won two of the last three majors, holds a share of the lead with Bryson DeChambeau while three-time champion Phil Mickelson is one shot off the pace. 

Koepka, who missed last year's Masters with a wrist injury, used a combination of jaw-dropping power and laser-like irons to card a six-under-par 66 to sit atop the leaderboard with Bryson DeChambeau, who came within inches of a closing eagle.

We'll have all the latest updates throughout the day right here.

The action gets back underway in just over 10 minutes time, so here's a look at some selected tee times for the day:
 
Selected Tee Times:
 
1:30pm - Lyle, M. Kim, Kizzire
2:03pm - Olazabal, Na, Olesen
2:47pm - Kisner, Aphibarnrat, Imahira
2:58pm - Z. Jonhson, Poulter, Kuchar
3:09pm - Molinari, Cabrera Bello, Hatton
3:42pm - D. Johnson, DeChambeau, Day
3:53pm - Mickelson, Rose, Thomas
4:04pm - Speith, Casey, Koepka
4:15pm - Landry, Long, Conners
4:48pm - Cabrera, Wise, Harding
5:10pm - Couples, S. Woo Kim, JB Holmes
5:53pm - Grace, Grillo, Bjerregaard
5:54pm - Garcia, Finau, Stenson
6:05pm - Scott, Matsuyama, Stanley
6:16pm - Reed, Simpson, Hovland (A)
6:38pm - Fleetwood, Schauffele, Woodland
6:49pm - Woods, Li, Rahm
7:00pm- McIlroy, Fowler, Smith
Here's how things stand going into the second round:
 
Leader Board Update: Leader(s) -6
 
DeChambeau -6 (66)
Koepka -6 (66)
Mickelson -5 (67)
Poulter -4 (68)
D. Johnson -4 (68)
Kisner -3 (69)
Harding -3 (69)
Aphibarnrat -3 (69)
Scott -3 (69)
Rahm -3 (69)
Day Two, here we go...
 
Sandy Lyle, Michael Kim and Patton Kizzire set off down the first. Kizzire at -2 has a chance to set the pace of the day. If he can start quickly with a run of birdies he may force the leaders to be more aggressive in the afternoon, when conditions look set to be more difficult.
 
 
After a great round of 68 yesterday, Ian Poulter broke down his round on a hole by hole basis for his Instagram followers, here's the link for you social media types to take a look at:  

Joint leader, Brooks Koepka has won three of his last seven majors, the US Open twice and then the US PGA. 

He sits at the top of the leader board, alongside Bryson DeChambeau, with a one shot lead over three-time Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. 

A wrist injury meant that Koepka missed the Masters last year but he made up for it with a bogey free round on Day One, the only player in the field not to make a bogey.

"I'm super-aggressive at a normal event and that kind of backfires sometimes," Koepka said.

"In a normal event that three-putt for par on eight really would have driven me nuts. I would have been sitting there for probably five minutes trying to figure out what I did wrong, but I just let things go a lot more easily in a major."

 
In contrast to yesterday where the sun shone all day, there's quite a bit of rain around at Augusta now.
 
Kizzire starts with a bogey and falls back to -1 after the first hole. It's not start he would have wanted to say the least. 
For those of you with a couple of spare minutes, take a look at the highlights of Day One: 
Bryson DeChambeau took full advantage of the back nine yesterday making 6 birdies in 7 holes to claim a share of the lead. 
 
His second on the 18th smacked into the flag stick to almost give him an eagle as well. 
 
He's set to start his second round at 3:42pm today.  
 
"I hit my shots beautifully," said the 25-year-old world number six. "We changed every shaft on the clubs leading into this, it's pretty cool to understand the dynamics around this and there is something special to come."
 
 
Patton Kizzire moves back to -2 with a birdie on the second. Sandy Lyle also makes birdie and moves back to level par. 
 
A good start for Germany's Martin Kaymer as he birdies the first to come back to level par as well. 
Michael Kim birdies the par-4 second but Sandy Lyle makes a bogey.
 
Patton Kizzire stays four shots behind the leaders with a par. 
Kevin Na finished his round yesterday with a bogey on 18, he's started today in the same way as he makes 5 on the par-4 first hole. 
 
Playing partner Thorbjorn Olesen opens his account with a par, to stay five back. 
The opening group of Lyle, Kizzire and Michael Kim all make par the par-3 fourth.
 
The showers that have been around today seem to have taken a break but there are a variety of different coloured ponchos covering the spectators.
Two-time champion and 61-year-old Bernhard Langer birdies the opening hole of his second round to move to -2.
 
 
Ian Poulter leads Europe's challenge for the Green Jacket at -4. He's back on the course in just under 20 minutes time.
 
 
Sandy Lyle takes a 6 on the fifth for a double bogey to move to +3.
 
Kaymer drops back over par with a bogey on the par-3 fourth.
Two close challengers, Kevin Kisner and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, both at -3, make their way to the first tee to get their rounds underway.
 
Ian Poulter will be going out after them alongside Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar. 
The course is a lot wetter today because of the rain. That tends to help those players who hit the ball quite long, but as this is Augusta accuracy is also key. 
 
Long and straight could be the way to go in these condition.
6 holes down for Patton Kizzire, one birdie and one bogey in his round today keep him at -2, still four of the lead.
 
 
The chance of thunderstorms later today is at 60% according to the weather report. It's clear enough now as Poulter and his group tee off on the first.
 
Zach Johnson hits his drive down the middle of the fairway.
 
Poulter finds the fairway bunker that is off to the right.
 
A chorus of "Kuch!" echos from the crowd before Kuchar hits his drive even further right into the trees. 

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