One heck of a back nine from Scottie Scheffler, and the world number one is in the box seat going into the weekend. A quarter of a century on from Tiger’s maiden procession in 1997, there will no doubt be plenty of talk about the 25-year-old Texan romping away with it in similar style ... and yet we all know the majority of this year’s story is almost certainly yet to unfold. A lot of people still in this should Scheffler stumble. Here’s how the top of the leader board looks after the second round. See you tomorrow for Moving Day!
-8: Scheffler
-3: Schwartzel, Im, Lowry, Matsuyama
-2: Varner III, D Johnson, Na, Smith
-1: Conners, Morikawa, Zalatoris, Willett, Niemann, Thomas
E: Bezuidenhout, Fitzpatrick, Spaun
+1: Simpson, Cantlay, Kisner, Woods
+2: MacIntyre, Westwood, Watson, Garcia, Hatton, Rahm, McIlroy, Straka, Swafford, Higgs, Kim, Kokrak, Gooch, Berger, Finau
Some big names missing the cut: Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau, Sam Burns, Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson.
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Scheffler signs for a 67 and a five-shot lead!
Scheffler leaves his birdie effort a couple of turns short, and it’s just a par. Just a par on 18 at Augusta! He puts his signature at the bottom of a five-under 67, to go alongside yesterday’s 69. He bogeyed two of the first three holes, as well! What a performance.
Scheffler is totally unencumbered by the trees. He’s able to take a full swing of his wedge, and sends it pin high. He’ll have a look at yet another birdie from 13 feet. If he makes the putt, it’ll be his fifth birdie in the last seven holes, and he’ll have come back in 31 strokes for a 66. Outrageous behaviour on such a windy day ... and to think, for a while, we were seriously wondering for a while if Charl Schwartzel would be the sole 36-hole leader. He is in a share of second, to be fair.
Scheffler appears to have come through the worst of the trees, and has a window to the green! Hey, when it’s your day, it’s your day.
A chink of light for the chasing pack? Scheffler sends a big slice into the pines down the right of 18. He’s not in the worst position, his ball ending up in a clear patch, though whether he’ll have a route to the green is another matter entirely.
A cheery Tiger chats to Sky. “I got off to a terrible start. I hit some bad shots, and a couple of big gusts of wind that took my ball all over the place. I thought, OK, this isn’t going well! If we can somehow get back to even par, it would be a great finish. I could have gotten it done, at 15 and 16, but other than that, it was a good fight, and I’m in the ballgame. I think the committee will be happy that it will be dry and fast.” As for his physical condition? “I’m feeling it! We’ve got some work ahead of us tonight!”
JT shoots 67
Thomas’s birdie effort shaves the right-hand edge of the cup. Just a par for JT too, but that’s a magnificent 67. He’s -1 and in good nick for the weekend, albeit with a bit of ground to make up on Scheffler ... who splashes out from the bunker at the front of 17 to a couple of feet. In goes the par saver, and he remains at -8. A birdie up the last would send a shiver down the entire field. A par’s going to give them pause, let’s face it!
-8: Scheffler (17)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Lowry (F), Matsuyama (F)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (F), Na (F), Smith (F)
-1: Conners (F), Morikawa (F), Zalatoris (F), Willett (F), Niemann (F), Thomas (F)
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Back on 17, Scheffler tries to sling one around the trees down the left. His manufactured hook slams into the bunker guarding the front of the green. That shouldn’t be a huge problem, but the Masters is the Masters, so you never know. Meanwhile up on the 18th, Matsuyama’s birdie putt never looks like dropping. Just the par, but that’s a fine 69. The defending champion goes into the weekend at -3, well placed to become only the fourth man in history to retain the Masters, after Jack, Nick and Tiger.
Thomas clips his bunker shot pin high to ten feet! He’ll have a putt for birdie and a round of 66. His partner Matsuyama, from a more inviting position in the middle of the fairway, pulls his 18 feet wide left of the flag. But he’ll have a good look at birdie too, and a possible 68.
Meanwhile here’s Andy Bull on the continuing struggles of Rory McIlroy.
Speaking of Sandy Lyle ...
Scheffler’s tee shot at 17 skirts with the trees down the left. He should be OK for a route into the green. Meanwhile up on 18, Matsuyama skelps his tee shot down the middle, but Thomas pulls his drive into the sand over in Lyle Country.
However, he’s nine off the current lead. Scheffler knocks in his birdie putt, and this is quite outrageous!
-8: Scheffler (16)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Lowry (F), Matsuyama (17)
Matsuyama thinks he’s nailed an uphill 12-footer for birdie on 17, and walks after it, but it dies to the right on the last turn. Just a par, and he remains at -3, four off Scheffler’s lead (for now). Up on 18, Niemann pulls his bogey putt, and that’s a sickening six. It’s a 74, and he ends the day at -1. Meanwhile Tiger makes a two-putt par from distance at the back of the green. He finishes with a street-fighting 74, a round that threatened to spiral out of control after four bogeys in his first five holes. But what resilience! He’s +1 and here for the weekend!
Scheffler is unstoppable! He creams his tee shot at 16 to seven feet. If that goes in, folk may start taking. Back on 18, Niemann is faced with a delicate splash out of the high-faced bunker at the front. He gets his ball out, but the margins are slim, and it u-turns its way off the green and back down the fairway. He chips up four, and nearly hits the flagstick, but the ball trundles six feet past. Big bogey putt coming up for the young Chilean.
Problem for the chasing pack is, you can’t factor out Scheffler in reality. Statistical outlier he may be; world number one he is also! He chips from yet another farcically wide position on the right of a par-five, and knocks it close enough that birdie is inevitable. In it arrows, unerringly from ten feet, and the brilliant 25-year-old Texan is four clear!
-7: Scheffler (15)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Lowry (F), Niemann (17), Matsuyama (16)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (F), Na (F), Smith (F)
You know what, Cam Smith will be feeling OK about himself despite shooting 74 today. He makes his birdie at 18, and that’s his second in the last four holes, turning a bad round into a reasonable one, given the conditions and the relative lack of low scoring (a few notable exceptions apart). He’s -2, currently just four off the lead, one off the pace when you factor out the outlier Scheffler.
A scruffy end to Kevin Kisner’s round. Having made his way up the leader board to -1 with those birdies at 13, 14 and 16, he finishes bogey-bogey for a 70 that’s slightly disappointing in context. He goes into the weekend at +1. Daniel Berger also stumbled home, with bogeys at 14, 15 and 16, and his 75 is something of a comedown after yesterday’s 71. He’s +2. And it’s a level-par 72 for Tommy Fleetwood: out in 33, back in 39. A double-bogey seven at 13 that gave up 2.2 shots to the field. He’s +3.
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Scheffler may have a three-shot lead, but his approach play has been a bit tatty over the last couple of holes. Wide right at 13, short at 14, now wide right again at 15. Exactly how much it matters is moot, given he’s one-under over this stretch so far, but it’s a thing. Meanwhile pars for Tiger and Niemann at 17 ... and a chance for Cam Smith to put a bit of lipstick on a pig of a round as he sends his second to six feet. A birdie would make his iced tea taste a whole lot sweeter.
Kevin Na’s second into 18 lands 30 feet behind the flag and replicates the journey Sandy Lyle’s bunker shot took in 1988. In goes the birdie putt, and he signs for his second 71 of the week. He goes into Moving Day at -2. Meanwhile Justin Thomas is on one. He nearly produces a facsimile copy of Stewart Cink’s ace on 16. Not quite, but he’ll tap in for a third birdie in a row and will move into red figures for the first time in this tournament.
The defending champ Hideki Matsuyama isn’t going away anytime soon. After a long run of pars, he finds the par-five 15th in two, then carefully rolls his eagle putt to kick-in distance. A birdie puts him into a tie of second at -3. His playing partner Justin Thomas meanwhile leaves his eagle effort worryingly short, but knocks in the next putt to get back to level par. This is an excellent round by the 2017 PGA champ.
Scheffler pitches up from the front of 14 to six feet, and he’s not in the mood to miss the putt. He’s generally been so solid with the flat stick today, which makes the aberration from short range on 9 so weird. Right now, there appear to be few chinks in the world number one’s armour, but then we know this tournament doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday. More on Scheffler’s moxie then!
Shane Lowry signs for a 68
Tiger doesn’t give his uphill ten-footer at 10 enough juice. It dies to the left. He’s let a couple of big chances go in the last couple of holes. He remains at +1. Niemann meanwhile makes an outrageous two-putt par, forced to send his first putt away from the hole and u-turning it from 30 feet. He stays at -3 ... as does Shane Lowry, whose birdie putt from 12 feet at 18 shaves the lip. Just a par, but he’s signing for a four-under 68, at the moment the lowest score of the day!
Tiger lands his tee shot at 16 in Cink-Jarvisville, his ball breaking left and stopping ten feet short. A good look at another birdie coming up. Meanwhile back on 14, the leader Scheffler leaves his approach well short, the ball toppling back off the green and down the fairway. On 15, Thomas goes for broke, aiming his second over the water and over the flag. It’s a beauty. It stops on the back edge of the green and he’ll have a 20-foot chance for eagle.
After that troubling stretch of three bogeys in a row between 10 and 12, Danny Willett parred his way home. A 74 to go with yesterday’s superb 69, and at -1 he’ll be going out fairly late on Moving Day. Talor Gooch finished shoddily, though, back in 40 for a 74 that promised so much more. He’s +2.
Smith, having converted his birdie at 15, sends his tee shot at 16 to six feet. But he pulls his putt and remains at -1. He’s not on it at all today. Tiger’s 15-foot birdie effort on 15 slides by and he’ll have to make do with par. He remains at +1, while his partner Niemann gets away with a sliced approach, avoiding the drink and ending up with a par that keeps him at -3.
Scheffler makes no mistake with his short birdie putt at 13. He’s three clear. Thomas meanwhile becomes the latest player to bother the flagstick at 14 with his approach, and he converts his birdie putt to return to +1. And up on 15, Tiger hits an uncharacteristically clumpish chip well past the flag. He breathes a sigh of relief as the first cut stops his ball from rolling on down to the water.
-6: Scheffler (13)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Lowry (17), Niemann (14)
Scheffler wedges to six feet. That is borderline ludicrous from where he was. Ice in the veins. He’ll have a good look at birdie for a three-stroke lead. Tiger crashes his drive down the middle of 15 then flashes a 5-wood over the water, the ball only just toppling off the back of the green. He’ll have a chance of a chip-in for eagle; more realistically an up and down for a third birdie in a row. Meanwhile three birdies in four holes for Kevin Kisner, the latest at 16, and suddenly he’s in the red at -1.
Nothing much has gone right for Cam Smith today. But on 15, he lays up, then wedges over the flag and spins back in the Shane Lowry style. He’ll surely tidy up for birdie from three feet. If he does, it’ll be his first birdie of the day, and he’ll move back to within four of the leader Scheffler ... who, by the way, has just sliced his second into 13 miles wide right. Having scattered a load of cameramen, he’ll appropriately have to snap one in from an extremely wide angle.
Back-to-back birdies for Tiger! He sends his second at 14 to the left of the pin, using the slope to gather his ball to eight feet. In goes the birdie putt. He’s +2 and doing an excellent job of repairing all that early damage. It’s a bounceback birdie meanwhile for his partner Joaquin Niemann, meanwhile, whose approach was similarly shaped, but even better. He tidies up from three feet and moves back to -3.
Sky have a word with Rory. “I felt like I showed some resilience and character, I played the last seven holes in two under par. Overall I’m pretty pleased. I felt it could be a few shots better, but I’m still there, and it’s all to play for this weekend. You have to be content with making pars. If you parred every hole, you wouldn’t be too far off the lead at this point. I think it’s going to be just as tough tomorrow with the wind, so we know what to expect.”
Niemann, who had made his first birdie of the day at 12, sends his second into the bunker back left of 13. He’s left with little green to work with, and an impossible chip. He can’t hold it close, and ends up with a miserable bogey six. He slips to -2. His partner Tiger, however, cashes in a big stroke of luck. His second looks like heading into the creek, but flies so far right it stops short. He’s able to chip close from there, and rolls in a putt for birdie. Tiger refusing to cave in, despite having made six bogeys today. Three birdies mean he hangs around at +3.
Scheffler makes no mistake with his birdie putt on 12. There was a fair bit of left-to-right movement in that, yet he knew it was in from the moment it left the face of his flat stick. Speaking of which, Kevin Na walks in a birdie putt on 15 to move to -2. And back on 12, a bounceback birdie for Tony Finau, who had bogeyed 10, then dropped another at 11 after plonking his second into the pond guarding the left of the green. He’s back to level par.
-5: Schauffele (12)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Lowry (15)
From 87 yards on 15, the 2019 Open champ Shane Lowry is this close to spinning his wedge back into the cup for eagle! He’ll kick that one in to move to -3. Meanwhile back on 11, the leader and world number one Scottie Scheffler makes a good up and down from the swale to the right of 11, then sticks his tee shot at 12 to 12 feet. He’ll have a good look for a birdie that’ll give him a two-shot cushion at the top.
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An eventful par for Willett on 15. He whistles his second through the green and nearly into the drink at the back. Having got away with that one, he then hits a hot chip back through the green and is fortunate to have sent it so far wide right that it doesn’t topple into the water at the front. A chip and a putt, and there are no pictures on your card. Par, and he remains at -1.
A spot of luck for Matsuyama on 12. His ball only just gets over the water and momentarily threatens to topple back in. The first cut stops it rolling, but only by the side of the front bunker. The champion doesn’t have much of a stance, balancing on the edge of the trap on tippy-toes, but nudges his chip up close enough to tidy up for par. He remains two off at -2.
Cam Smith’s travails continue. He pulls his drive at 13 into Rae’s Creek, and is forced to lay up with his third. What he’d give for an up and down from distance to remain at level par.
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As mentioned earlier, this isn’t a banner year for the amateurs. None of them will make the cut, so there will be no silver medal for low amateur struck this year. Nevertheless, 19-year-old Aaron Jarvis, from the Cayman Islands, has tried his damnedest to make an indelible mark anyway. About an hour ago, he was two feet away from an ace on 12. Now, if that wasn’t enough, he very nearly replicates Stewart Cink’s ace on 16, landing his ball in the middle of the green and allowing the slope to bring his ball to a stop right next to the cup. No ace, but two kick-in birdies. Jarvis so close to joining Ross Somerville (16th, 1934), Ray Billows (16th, 1940), John Dawson (16th, 1949), Billy Joe Patton (6th, 1954) and William Hyndman (12th, 1959) on an elite list of amateurs who have aced at the Masters!
... or is it? Tiger splashes gently out of the bunker but doesn’t get enough on it. The ball snags in the first cut. Perhaps he was thinking of the ten he ran up here in 2020, a slapstick outrage that involved his thinning one out of sand and into the drink. He nearly rolls in the putt that remains from the fringe, but having made a sensational birdie on 10, it’s back to back bogeys. He’s +3 and once again heading the wrong way at pace.
A huge stroke of luck for Tiger on 12. He whistles his tee shot into the bank of azaleas behind the green. Nine times out of ten it would stay up there, leaving a treacherous downhill chip towards water, but it rolls back out and into the sand. Still not ideal, but much less problematic.
Shane Lowry crashes his second at 13 into the heart of the green. His eagle putt is never getting there, but the birdie is enough to take him to -2, just a couple off the lead. Back on 12, Cam Smith finds the green with his tee shot, but leaves his first putt well short, then races his second past. An awful bogey, his fourth of the day, and as he contemplates slipping back to level par for the tournament, having begun his round leading at -4, he flings the ball into Rae’s Creek.
A clumsy bogey for Tiger on 11. Just short in two, 30 feet from the flag, he chips up in the heavy handed style and can’t make the putt coming back. He slips back to +2.
Hole in one at 16 for Stewart Cink!
The 2009 Open champion stands on the 16th tee at +8 for the tournament. He’ll not be here this weekend. But it matters not, because he’ll have something to remember for ever: an ace at Augusta! He lands his iron into the heart of the green and twirls his club as he watches it bite, turn to the left, and obediently roll into the cup! His son is on his bag, and the pair embrace and leap around in joy! He’s +6 now ... and the 16th really does give up a lot of aces these days. Playing partner Harry Higgs gives Cink a hug as well, but thankfully doesn’t get the old nipples out again like he did at the Phoenix Open a couple of months ago. Time and a place.
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Daniel Berger was going along nicely yesterday at three over until a double bogey at 18. Having signed for 71, his disappointment continued today with further dropped shots at 4 and 6. But he’s just chipped in from the back of 12 for a birdie that might change the momentum. He’s level par again for the tournament, with the par fives coming up. But it’s a disappointing bogey at 10 for Justin Thomas. He’s back to +2.
Scheffler should be two shots clear of the field, having wedged his second at 9 from 116 yards to four feet. But he pushes his downhill birdie putt wide right, and that’s a disappointing par four. He turns in 35.
-4: Scheffler (9)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (F), Na (12), Neimann (10), Matsuyama (9)
-1: Conners (F), Morikawa (F), Zalatoris (F), Willett (12), Gooch (12), Lowry (12), Smith (10), Finau (9)
E: Bezuidenhout (F), Fitzpatrick (F), Spaun (F), Scott (9)
In it goes, and that’s a second birdie in three holes for Tiger, who looked on the ropes after making four bogeys in the first five holes. He’s back up to +1.
One of the shots of the week so far by ... who else? ... Tiger Woods. From the centre of 10, he sends a long iron in from 208 yards, landing his ball on the banking to the right of the pin, from where it smoothly curls to three feet. The patrons respond accordingly, and if Augusta had a roof, it’d right now be coptering over South Carolina. Big birdie putt coming up!
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Brooks Koepka won’t be making the weekend. A second 75 leaves him adrift at +6, with the cut still projected at +4. Xander Schauffele won’t be there either, following up yesterday’s 74 with a 77. He’s +7. But one of the pre-tournament tips is in the middle of a salvage job: birdies at 2, 3 and now 9 for Justin Thomas, who turns in 33 and is suddenly only +1. Yesterday’s miserable 76 seems a long time ago right now!
Amen Corner has taken a chunk out of Danny Willett. He sends his tee shot at 12 into the bunker at the back. Failure to get up and down means it’s three bogeys in a row. He slips to -1.
-4: Scheffler (8)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (F), Na (11), Neimann (9), Matsuyama (9)
Scottie Scheffler doesn’t get greedy at the par-five 8th. He lays up greenside, then wedges close to set up a birdie putt he’s never missing. All of a sudden, with back-to-back birdies, the new world number one leads the Masters. Meanwhile a stunning birde for Kevin Na on 11, using the camber to the right of the green to guide his ball back towards the flag. It stops a couple of feet away, and in goes the birdie. He’s -2, just a couple off the new leading mark. Bogey for JJ Spaun at 18, meanwhile, and he signs for a 70; the last man to gain entry to this year’s tournament is level par after 36 holes.
Some admin. Patrick Cantlay shot 75 today and slipped to +1 overall. Matt Fitzpatrick battled his way to an admirable 73 and is level for the tournament, alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who followed up yesterday’s 73 with a 71. Will Zalatoris shot a level-par 72 to remain at -1 overall. Corey Conners, who had briefly troubled the leaders, bogeyed 16 and 17 but it’s still a 73 to go alongside yesterday’s 70 and he’s -1. Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Tyrrell Hatton all shot 74s today to drop to +2, while Bubba Watson carded his second 73 of the week. He’s +2, too, alongside Jon Rahm whose 72 has the pre-tournament favourite treading water.
That’s not the first time Spieth has sunk his hopes at the 12th, of course. He ran up a quadruple bogey seven there while seemingly cantering to victory in 2016. Meanwhile the man who benefited that year, Danny Willett, nearly gets wet himself on 11, putting up from the swale to the right of the green and nearly sending his ball into the drink on the other side. It stops in the first cut, which is an escape, but he can’t make the 12-foot par putt coming back, and that’s back-to-back bogeys for the 2016 champ. He’s -2.
The television pictures aren’t forthcoming about the exact location of Rory’s ball at 18. What we do know is that he gets home for par, and it’s his second 73 of the week. At +2, he’s not out of it, and at least he’s definitely here for the weekend ... unlike Jordan Spieth, who doubles 18 to sign for a 76. At +6, his fate is probably sealed. The real damage was done at 12, however, where he put two balls into the water to run up a triple-bogey six.
Shane Lowry is right in this. From a tricky position front right of 10, he sends a crisp wedge into the cup - high over the bunker, two soft bounces and a roll - and that’s rare birdie at this difficult hole. He’s -1, as is Cam Smith, who bogeys 9 after flying his approach over the back. Out in 39, and one of the pre-tournament favourites is heading in the wrong direction.
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The world number one hits the front! Scottie Scheffler sends his approach at 7 over the flag. In goes the eight-foot birdie putt, and he grabs a share of the action at -3. Tiger clips a wedge at 8 to kick-in distance, and that’s his first birdie of the day. He’s back to +2. And Rory sends a wild slice into the thicket down the right of 18. From the middle of bother, he tries to find the green with a big manufactured hook, but the camera doesn’t find his ball and there’s no cheer from the gallery. Make of that what you will. More when we have it!
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Willett (10), Scheffler (7)
Willett relinquishes sole ownership of the lead after pushing his second into 10 up the bank to the right. He’s miles above the hole, has to come over a bunker, and there isn’t too much green to work with. But he flops to 12 feet nevertheless. Sadly he can’t complete a ludicrous escape, his par putt sliding by, but he allows himself a wry smile anyway.
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Willett (10)
Hudson Swafford has been going well today. After yesterday’s poor 77, he’s three under for his round through 12. Then he sends a long iron into 13 ... with slapstick consequences. As he connects, the head of his club flies off to the left, as the ball sails over Rae’s Creek and into the bunker at the back of the green. He’s beyond livid with this state of affairs, giving his caddy the eyes, and he isn’t too much happier when his eventual birdie effort horseshoes out. He remains at +2, and when he calms down, he may conclude that things could have worked out a whole lot worse.
On the subject of the cut, it currently doesn’t look as though Augusta National Golf Club will be striking a silver medal for low amateur this year. With the conditions so tough, the amateurs have been struggling, and it’s unlikely any will make the weekend. Keita Nakajima is best placed in the clubhouse after 36 holes, having followed up yesterday’s excellent 72 with a 79, but the 21-year-old from Japan is +7. Still out on the course, James Piot started well with birdies at 2 and 3, but a double at 5 followed by bogey at 6 has crashed the US Amateur champion down to +10, from where he’ll have to go some. Austin Greaser, the player Piot beat in the final of the US Amateur, was going along nicely, but he’s dropped four shots in his last four holes to slip to +6, and he’s currently battling to save his par on 15. Here’s hoping someone can pull something unexpected out of the bag.
Is something happening for Rory McIlroy at last? Following a birdie on the par-five 13th, he launches his tee shot at the par-three 16th to eight feet and slots the putt away. Despite it all, he’s now +2, still within striking distance of the leading pack. What he’d give for one more birdie coming home. One thing we know for sure: he’s inside the projected cut, which currently stands to save everyone +4 and better.
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The defending champ doesn’t have a share for long! Danny Willett, having wedged his second at 9 pin high, 12 feet to the right, rattles in one of the straighter putts on the green for a birdie. He hits the turn in 34 and the 2016 champion tops the leader board again. Meanwhile on 7, Joaquin Niemann nearly slam-dunks a bunker shot into the cup, but the ball stops stubbornly on the lip and it’s a tap-in par. He remains at -2.
-4: Willett (9)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Matsuyama (6)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (F), Gooch (8), Smith (7), Niemann (7), Scheffler (4), Finau (4)
... and that lead is now shared by Hideki Matsuyama! The defending champion looked to be going nowhere fast yesterday, two over through 12, but birdies at 13 and 15 took him back to level par. He’s followed that 72 with a flying start today: birdies at 2 and 3, and now an arrow slung straight at the flag on 6. He tidies up from three feet for his third birdie of the afternoon, and right now, his dream of becoming the first player to retain the green jacket since Tiger in 2002 - and only the fourth in history, behind Tiger, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo - is very much alive.
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Willett (8), Matsuyama (6)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (F), Gooch (8), Smith (7), Niemann (6), Scheffler (4), Finau (4)
Dustin Johnson pars the last to sign for a 73. That’s another round that could have ended up a lot worse than it did. A stutter around the turn with bogeys at 7 and 9, then a flyer sent over the back of 10. But an up and down from the pine straw saved the par, and he continued to par all the way home. A street-fighting back nine from the 2020 champion. He’s -2, just one off that lead.
The Open champion Collin Morikawa is back in the house with a two-under 70. That’s a fine round that threatened to unravel when he pulled a godawful approach at 11 into the heart of the pond, then fluffed his wedge from the dropzone. But he rolled in a staunch putt to limit the damage to bogey, then parred his way home, with the exception of birdie at 16. He’s -1, and just two off the tournament and clubhouse lead!
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Talor Gooch birdies 8. That follows an earlier birdie at 2, and the 30-year-old debutant from Oklahoma finds himself just the one shot off the lead at -2. Tiger (+3) steadies the ship with a two-putt par at 6, while his playing partner Joaquin Niemann follows up bogey at 5 by leaving his first putt ten feet short, then rattling in the par saver with no nerves in evidence at all. The 23-year-old Chilean remains at -2.
A couple of staunch pars to report. Cam Smith, having bogeyed 1 and 4, leaves a long birdie putt short on 6, but gathers himself to salvage his three. Then up on 8, Danny Willett flays his second into the trees on the left, then hits a branch chipping out, so does very well to stay calm and get up and down. They’re -2 and -3 respectively.
JJ Spaun, who only secured his place at this year’s Masters with his win at the Texas Open last week, is grabbing his opportunity with both hands. He pours one in from distance at 14 for birdie, his fourth of the day. He’s level par for the tournament overall. Had he not made double bogey at 3 followed by bogey at 4 yesterday - an understandably slow start on debut, coming off an emotional week - he’d have a share of the lead right now!
Tiger’s woes continue. He flays his drive at 5 into the trees, is forced to chip out, and gets too much backspin on his wedge in. He can’t make the par putt from eight feet, and that’s four bogeys in the first five holes ... and the only par has come at the 2nd, where anything but a birdie is something of a disappointment. He’s +3 overall, and after yesterday’s adrenaline-fuelled heroics, it might be that reality - coupled with a little physical and mental fatigue - is taking over.
You’ll have noticed Harold Varner in the clubhouse with another 71. A fine debut, and he’ll almost certainly be in one of the later groups tomorrow. Back on 14, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy are both denied birdies by a stubborn cup. McIlroy’s horseshoes out from 12 feet; Fitzpatrick outrageously refuses to drop from 25 feet, one dimple short. Fitzpatrick is level par, Rory +3.
Thanks Bryan ... and well, well, well. All of a sudden, everything changes at the top! Danny Willett gets out of position from the tee on 7 and ends up with bogey, while it’s a similar story for Im Sung-jae on 18. Visits to the trees are no good, and the first-round leader ends Friday with bogey and an up-and-down 74. Not the greatest of days for the young South Korean, but the conditions aren’t going to get any better, and he’s still got a share of the clubhouse lead.
-3: Schwartzel (F), Im (F), Willett (7), Niemann (4)
-2: Varner III (F), D Johnson (16), Smith (5), Matsuyama (4), Scheffler (3), Finau (3)
... and that’s all for me today. Back over to Scott Murray directly!
Tiger Woods has gone bogey-par-bogey-bogey to open his second round, dropping him down to +2 overall. He’ll now look to keep things above water on a tricky fifth hole that’s played harder than all but one on the course. Elsewhere, Collin Morikawa has just birdied 16 to move to -1 overall and within three shots of the pace.
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A bit of a choppy start for Tiger Woods. He’s bogeyed the first and third holes after pulling par putts left on both. That drops him down to +1 overall in a tie for 26th. Elsewhere, Im Sung-jae has just birdied 16 to rejoin Danny Willett atop the leaderboard at four-under.
-4: Willett (5), Im (16)
-3: Smith (3), Niemann (2), Schwartzel (F), Varner III (16)
-2: Scheffler (1), D Johnson (14)
-1: Lee (8), Gooch (6), Na (4), Finau (1), Conners (F), Cantlay (13)
Jordan Spieth has just put two balls into the water on 12. Uh-oh. He’s dropped to +4 overall after the triple bogey. The 12th hole at Augusta is among the most iconic in golf but has proven a house of horrors for the Texan down the years. Back in 2016, Spieth held a five-stroke lead as the defending champion with nine holes to go and appeared a sure thing to become the fourth ever back-to-back Masters champion after Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo ... until a quadruple bogey on 12 torpedoed his hopes in dramatic fashion.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is in the clubhouse having carded a one-over-par 73 for the second straight day. He’s in a tie for 30th at +2 overall and will make the cut once again at Augusta after qualifying for this year’s field by finishing in a tie for 12th last year on his Masters debut. That’s eight cuts made in eight career major starts including two top-10 finishes in the Open for the 25-year-old Oban man.
... and with that, I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Bryan Armen Graham. See you in an hour!
Watery bother for the co-leader Im Sung-jae on 15. He pearls a fairway wood over the pond, but the ball takes a hard bounce on the green and disappears off down the bank at the back and into the drink. Meanwhile back on 1, Tiger can’t get his chip up close, and pulls his ten-foot putt coming back. He’s level par overall. His playing partner Joaquin Niemann makes a no-fuss par to remain at -3.
Tiger is out and about. He sends his opening drive into the big trap down the right of Tea Olive, then hoicks his second down the swale to the right of the green. That’ll be a testing up and down for par.
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Smith’s second into 1 isn’t all that, toppling back down off the false front. His chip up stops a good six feet short, and he shoves his par putt wide of the cup. Not the start the Player’s champion wanted after waiting so long to get involved today. He slips back to -3. Meanwhile a bogey for McIlroy at 10, the result of pushing his tee shot into the sand on the right from the middle of the fairway. He’s +2.
-4: Im (14), Willett (3)
-3: Schwartzel (F), Smith (1), Niemann, Scheffler
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2011 champ Charl Schwartzel in with 69
The co-leader Cam Smith takes to the tee, and sends his tee shot into the first cut down the left. As he goes out, Charl Schwartzel finishes up, stroking in a 12-foot par saver on the last to sign for a glorious 69. That’s the clubhouse lead for the 2011 champion; you never know, it could be the overall lead come the end of the day if the wind picks up even further and conditions deteriorate.
-4: Im (13), Willett (2), Smith
-3: Schwartzel (F), Niemann, Scheffler
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Morikawa limits the damage to bogey! He curls in outrageously from the fringe, a big right-to-left swinger from the best part of 30 feet. His partner DJ takes two careful putts up from the swale that foxed Sergio earlier, and saves his par. Both men fist-pump the air, because damage limitation is the primary goal right now, with the wind up and Augusta National baring its teeth. Meanwhile the 2016 winner Danny Willett nearly rattles in an eagle putt at 2. Not quite, but he taps in for birdie and a share of the lead.
-4: Im (13), Willett (2), Smith
-3: Schwartzel (17), Niemann, Scheffler
A huge mistake by Collin Morikawa on 11. Having split the fairway, he yanks his approach miles left and dunks it into the middle of the pond. The wind’s not helping, but that was nowhere near. He then fudges his chip from the drop zone. He’s on the fringe in four, and most likely about to undo most of his good work this morning.
Two putts from McIlroy and he hits the turn in 36. Given the conditions, that’s not too bad, but his short game is betraying him. He remains at +1. Im meanwhile nearly drains a monster for eagle on 13, but taps in for a birde that brings him back into a share of the lead at -4. That’s a fine response to bogeys at 10 and 12.
-4: Im (13), Smith
-3: Schwartzel (17), Conners (15), Willett (1), Niemann, Scheffler
Rory McIlroy in microcosm at 9. He blooters his drive miles past Fitzpatrick and Koepka. His wedge in from 113 yards lands 50 feet short of the flag. Fitzpatrick and Koepka are half the distance away. That’s so poor from Position A.
The wind catches Im’s tee shot at 12, which is some test today amid this swirl. His ball dumps in the bunker at the front, and though he swishes out to six feet, the putt doesn’t drop, and the overnight leader slips back into the pack. A consolation: the wind’s only going to get trickier for everyone coming behind. Birdie meanwhile for Schwartzel on 16, and the 2011 champ is only one off. And an outrageous up and down from the back of 10 by DJ, who clips up to a couple of feet from the pine straw behind the green. He had no right to do that, really. What a chip! He remains at -2.
-4: Smith
-3: Schwartzel (16), Conners (14), Im (12), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler
-2: D Johnson (10), Cantlay (9), Kokrak
Sergio gets wet at 11. But this is nowhere near the realms of his Tin Cup style meltdown at 15 in 2018, when as defending champion he repeatedly found the water guarding the green and ran up a record-equalling 13. Nope, all this is, is a cautionary tale for everyone else in the field. Having sent his second into the new undulations to the right of the green, he chips up delicately onto the dancefloor. But at Augusta, there’s delicate, and then there’s delicate. A gentle chip that looks decently weighted, only just landing on the green, keeps going, past the flag and into the briny behind. He hangs his head. It wasn’t the most egregious error, but it ends up costing him a triple-bogey seven. He crashes down the standings to +4.
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Trouble for DJ (part three of an ongoing series). From prime real estate in the middle of the 10th fairway, Dustin flies his iron straight over the green and down a big bank at the back. He might have gone as far as the pine straw, in which case he’s in a world of pain. Even if it’s still on the green stuff, he’ll have to negotiate the big slope and there’s not a whole load of green to work with, the pin tucked towards the back.
A word on Harold Varner III, tucked in there nicely at -2. He’d slipped back to -1 after bogey at 5, hitting the turn in level-par 36, but made his birdie at 10 in spectacular style. A chip up from the swale at the back of the green, landed confidently and sent scampering into the cup with an unerring left-to-right swing. He’s developed a taste for the spectacular this week, and that’s only the ninth birdie so far on this testing long par-four. With that three, he’s made up an average of 1.3 shots on the field.
More trouble for DJ, who is getting into all sorts today. He sprays his tee shot at 9 into woody trouble down the left, then sends his second into a bunker back left of the green. That’s a decent outcome, but he then gets a bit too clever with the splash out, sending his ball straight left and landing it in the first cut above the green. It doesn’t sneak back onto the downhill putting surface, as he’d anticipated, and he’s left with a treacherous prod onto the green. Anything too excitable could see him end up 20 feet past. But he tickles his ball down to three feet, and escapes with a bogey. Meanwhile his partner Collin Morikawa, having birdied 8, makes another after knocking his second into 9 pin high and steering in the right-to-left slider. On an extremely tricky day, the Open champion has hit the turn in 34! He’s -1, and has hauled himself right back into the mix.
-4: Im (10), Smith
-3: Conners (13), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler
-2: Schwartzel (15), Varner III (10), D Johnson (9), Cantlay (8)
-1: Morikawa (9), Zalatoris (8), Fitzpatrick (7), Higgs (2), Na, Berger, Woods, Finau
Louis Oosthuizen won’t be teeing it up today. He shot 76 yesterday, having fallen to his haunches while holding his back upon hitting his second shot into 2. That problem hasn’t cleared up to his satisfaction, and the 2012 runner-up has withdrawn from this year’s tournament. That means Tiger Woods and Joaquin Niemann will go round this afternoon as a two-ball ... behind the two-ball of Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith, Paul Casey having pulled out with a bad back before a shot was played yesterday.
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... and they’re now only one shot off the lead! That’s because on 10 the leader Im Sung-jae pulls his approach down the bank to the left of the green, and can’t get his chip up particularly close. The bogey slips him back into a share with Cam Smith, who doesn’t take to the tee for another hour.
-4: Im (10), Smith
-3: Conners (12), D Johnson (8), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler
-2: Schwartzel (14), Kokrak
Some trouble for Dustin Johnson down the par-five 8th. Having split the fairway with his drive, he hooks violently into the trees down the left, then hits a branch with his attempted wedge up towards the green. He’s down a swale, front left. He does extremely well to bundle a wedge up to seven feet ... then rolls in the par putt! That was very missable, and he didn’t want to be giving up more than a shot to the field with bogey on the easiest hole on the course. He remains at -3, where he’s joined by Corey Conners, looking for a third top-ten finish here in a row. Birdie at 12 moves the Canadian into a share of third ...
Matt Fitzpatrick takes back the shot he dropped on the opening hole. A pin-high tee shot at the par-three 6th and a calmly rolled 15-footer, one of the straighter putts on the course. The birdie brings him back into red figures: -1.
DJ can’t get up and down from the bunker at 7, and he slips back to two off the lead. Im then makes sure that gap remains the same, chipping up from an awkward position to the back of 9 and holing the six-foot par saver. Schwartzel’s back in the hunt near the top, though, with birdie at 13. But it’s a dropped shot for McIlroy at 5, punishment for hooking into the trees down the left. He’s back to level par.
-5: Im (9)
-4: Smith
-3: D Johnson (7), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler
-2: Schwartzel (13), Conners (11), Kokrak
Another of the big European hopes is floundering this morning. Viktor Hovland zig-zagged his way down Tea Olive like the Keystone Kops, en route to an opening double-bogey six. Birdie at 3 looked to have repaired some of the damage, but bogeys at 4 and 5 have sent the 24-year-old Norwegian tumbling down the standings to +3. One plus point: he’s wearing a more conservative pair of trousers today, black rather than yesterday’s neon pink ... a plus point only because it means the Sky commentary team won’t tediously bang on and on and on about them as some sort of modern all-out assault on the eyes. It’s almost as though Jimmy Demaret didn’t win multiple Masters wearing all manner of garish gear back in the 1940s. Get up with it, daddy-o!
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The Spanish challenge takes a blow. Back-to-back bogeys for Sergio at 5 and 6, and the 2017 champion drops to +1 overall. Meanwhile the reigning US Open champ Jon Rahm ships a shot at 5 and he’s back to +1 too.
DJ pulls his tee shot at 7 into the trees down the left. He briefly considers attempting some sort of power lob over the huge trees and onto the green, 160 yards away, but perhaps wisely opts to play the percentages instead, firing low through a gap for the bunker guarding the front-right of the green. A chance to scramble his par with an up and down.
Patrick Cantlay moved serenely up the leader board yesterday evening with birdies at 13, 15 and 16, en route to a two-under 70. He consolidated his position this morning, starting out with four pars in a row, but he’s just dropped his first stroke since the 10th yesterday, going over the back of 5, chipping up to six feet, then missing the par-saving putt to the right. The 5th is one of the hardest holes on the course, so that’s not giving too much up to the field, but it looked as though he’d escaped without damage there. It wasn’t to be. He’s -1.
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The wind’s picking up now. The flags are fluttering manically, but there’s not so much movement up the leader board right now. Rory nearly drains a monster on the par-three 4th but is more than happy to settle for his par. A couple of holes head, on the par-three 6th, Collin Morikawa sends his tee shot into a swale to the left of the green and makes a mess of his chip up. He can’t salvage the situation from 20 feet and he drops back to +1. His partner Dustin Johnson makes a better first of a similar situation, getting up and down for par. He remains one off.
-5: Im (7)
-4: D Johnson (6), Smith
-3: Conners (10), Willett, Miemann, Scheffler
An outrageous par for Rory McIlroy on 3. A perfect drive. He then misjudges his approach, sending his short wedge spinning back off the false front. He only just gets his next chip up onto the putting surface. It looks as though he’s handing the birdie he made at 2 straight back ... but he steers in a 15-foot right-to-left slider, and remains at level par. He celebrates as though it was another birdie. Yep. He really got away with one there.
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The 2019 US Open champion Gary Woodland holes out from 226 yards at the 520-yard par-four 10th! The pin’s situated back right; he lands his ball ten feet past, and it spins unerringly back into the cup! The first eagle on this hole in 14 years. He celebrates with a wide smile, but nothing too manic, as he’d taken 39 strokes to go out. He’s +4 now, and with the par fives coming up, at least has given himself a chance of surviving the cut.
The 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel is launching a bid for a second green jacket. Having birdied 7, he now makes another at 10, having used the contours of the bunker, bank and green to the right of the flag to gather his approach to three feet. He tidies up to move to -2 overall.
A fine street-fighting birdie by Rory on 2. He slices a wild drive into trees down the right, and for a second it looks like his ball is going to stop slap-bang behind a thick trunk. But it rolls on, allowing him to batter out just in front of the bunker guarding the front of the green. He wedges delightfully to eight feet, and his putter doesn’t let him down this time. He’s back to level par for the week. Meanwhile a birdie for the two-time champ Bubba Watson at 7; a 20-foot putt takes him to -1.
Birdie for Corey Conners at the par-five 8th. He’s back to -3, just a couple off the lead. On that subject, Im has been going along without drama, a par at 6 his third in a row. But DJ moves a little closer, birdie at the par-three 4th his reward for an exceptional low fade to six feet.
-5: Im (6)
-4: D Johnson (4), Smith
-3: Conners (8), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler
-2: Zalatoris (3), Cantlay (3), Kokrak
Jordan Spieth needs some of the old magic this morning if he’s to compete yet again. He shot 74 yesterday, despite putting abysmally. Has he found a solution? He finds the par-five 2nd in two big booms, then strokes a 35-foot right-to-left eagle slider to six inches. So unlucky. Birdie takes the 2015 champ back to +1.
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The morning starters should have the advantage today, with winds expecting to pick up severely as the day goes on. The greens will be getting harder and faster by the hour. If a low score is going to be shot today, now is most likely the time to start going about it. Maybe Sergio can post something! He’s made birdie on 2 and is currently +1 overall through 4.
The pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm shot an extremely disappointing 74 yesterday, spending a good proportion of his round hollering curse words into the evening air. He’s come out flying today, though, with birdies at 1 and 2. He’s suddenly back to level par.
An eventful morning for Robert MacIntyre, who qualified for this year’s Masters by finishing in a tie for 12th last year on debut. Having shot 73 yesterday, he quickly went backwards with bogeys at 2 and 5, but he’s just carded back-to-back birdies at 7 and 8 to haul himself back to +1. Elsewhere in hot UK news, it’s an opening bogey for Matthew Fitzpatrick, who slips back to level par for the week, immediately handing back the shot he picked up on 18 in the darkness last night, and another missed putt by Rory McIlroy, from eight feet on 1, having played the hole otherwise perfectly. Rory remains at +1 and can’t keep putting like this.
It’s a par-par start for Dustin Johnson, who pulls his second to the left of 2 from the middle of the fairway. He remains at -3. Collin Morikawa only just fails to get up and down from the sand at the front, and he stays at level par. Meanwhile Lee Westwood scrambled his par at 5, bundling his second from the trees to the front of the green and taking two putts. He’s now +1 overall through 7.
An eventful start for Tyrrell Hatton, who shot 72 yesterday. He flies the green at 1, leaving himself a treacherous chip back up onto a green sloping away from him. He does extremely well to knock his chip pin high to 15 feet, but can’t make the par saver. But what a way to bounce back at 2! He creams his second to 15 feet, on the fringe at the back, then teases his right-to-left slider in for eagle! He’s suddenly up to -1.
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Harold Varner III was a couple of inches away from becoming only the second player to make an albatross on 13 at the Masters. But his shot from the pine straw on the right stopped a few inches short. Never mind, the tap-in eagle started a run that brought him up the standings from +3 to -1, and he’s followed up yesterday’s 71 with an up and down from sand at 2. The birdie brings the 31-year-old from North Carolina up to -2 overall. He’s got no previous record to speak of in any of the majors ... but he’s coming off the back of a tie for sixth at Sawgrass. In form, then, but this is his debut at Augusta, and only three people have won at their first attempt: Horton Smith, Gene Sarazen and Fuzzy Zoeller. Smith and Sarazen did it in the first and second editions of the tournament, in 1934 and 1935, while Zoeller’s win in 1979 was still in the days when the club still insisted on the use of local caddies. Since that rule was abolished, nobody’s managed it. A little local knowledge goes a long way at Augusta National.
DJ doesn’t hit his birdie putt on 1, but par will always work. He remains at -3. Morikawa makes no mistake, though, rolling confidently into the back of the cup for a birdie that takes him to level par for the tournament. Meanwhile up on 3, Im restores his lead by rolling in a 25-footer for birdie.
-5: Im (3)
-4: Smith
-3: D Johnson (1), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler
Collin Morikawa could do with a fast start after his underwhelming 73 yesterday. Flaying his opening drive into the trees down the right of Tea Olive doesn’t exactly fit in with this remit, but he catches a break, a gap between the branches, and he’s able to steer his second pin high to ten feet! That’s a magical approach from where he was, and now he’s got the chance for birdie. So does his playing partner Dustin Johnson, who is also pin high, in less dramatic circumstances, 15 feet from the flag.
The two-time runner-up Lee Westwood is bidding to become the oldest winner of the Masters at 48 years old, erasing Jack Nicklaus (46 in 1986) from at least one page of the record books. An early birdie at 2 took him to -1 overall, after his level-par 72 yesterday, but back-to-back bogeys at 3 and 4 have tipped him into debit at +1, and he’s currently faffing around in the bushes down the right of 5. Hope dies quickly at Augusta National.
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Conners hands his shot back. His tee shot at the par-three 4th is left and long, and his chip back on fails to negotiate the ridge running across the middle of the green and turns away from the flag, leaving him 36 feet from the pin. Two putts later, he’s back at -2. The 2012 US Open champ Webb Simpson is heading the right way, though. After his one-under 71 yesterday, he’s birdied 2 and joins Conners in the bunch at -2.
Im flew out of the blocks yesterday with three birdies in a row. No such fireworks today, and he follows his opening bogey with a disappointing par at the inviting par-five 2nd. A nice splash from the sand guarding the front right of the bunker to eight feet, but the birdie putt was awfully weak and always dying to the right. He remains in a tie for the lead with Smith at -4.
Tom Hoge came from behind to pip Jordan Spieth at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in February. It was his first PGA Tour win in 203 starts, and earned the 32-year-old North Carolinian his first visit to Augusta. He’d clearly been trending towards that victory, tying for fourth at the RSM Classic last November and finishing runner-up at the American Express in Januray, and the good times continue to roll: a debut 73 yesterday, followed by birdies at 1 and 2 this morning. He’s -1 overall.
Corey Conners started the day three shots off the lead; now he’s just one back. Greenside on the par-five 2nd in two, he bumped up a chip to a couple of feet and tidied up for his birdie. The 30-year-old Canadian is a proper under-the-radar merchant, strangely so given his semi-final appearance at the recent World Match Play, and his consecutive top-ten finishes here at Augusta in 2020 and 2021.
-4: Im (1), Smith
-3: Conners (3), Willett, Niemann, Scheffler, D Johnson
It hasn’t taken long for the top of the leader board to change. The first-round leader Im Sung-jae cracks a nerveless drive down Tea Olive. But then he makes an unforced error, pulling his approach down the swale to the left of the green. He fluffs his chip up, which comes back towards bis feet. So he does pretty well to knock his second attempt up to kick-in distance, limiting the damage to bogey. He slips to -4 and into a share with Cam Smith.
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There’s only one way to start the day.
Preamble
Yesterday was like November 2020 all over again, as Im Sung-jae, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson grouped at the top of the leader board. There were also shades of 2016, as Danny Willett put his post-win Augusta woes behind him with a 69. Thoughts also turned to 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2019, as Tiger Woods blah blah ... you’ve heard word, I’m sure.
There were a few disappointments too, though. Some of the big pre-tournament picks didn’t really show yesterday - Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm - and plenty of those big names are going out this morning, already requiring something in the 60s to get back into contention. Some have games in decent nick to fall back on, some less so.
But it’s only Friday, so the tournament is still taking shape. Much will be turned upside down by the end of play today. Here’s how the top of the leader board looks ...
-5: Im
-4: Smith
-3: Willett, Niemann, Scheffler, D Johnson
-2: Kokrak, Conners, Cantlay
-1: Higgs, Na, Berger, Woods, Finau, Simpson, Varner III, Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick
... and here’s when everyone’s teeing off today (USA unless stated, all times BST,
-a- denotes amateurs). We’ll get going at 3pm BST. It’s on!
13.00 Stewart Hagestad -a-, Sandy Lyle (Sco)
13.11 Cameron Champ, Lucas Glover, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa)
13.22 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Cameron Davis (Aus), Bernhard Langer (Ger)
13.33 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Laird Shepherd (Eng) -a-
13.44 Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Justin Rose (Eng), Gary Woodland
13.55 Corey Conners (Can), Russell Henley, Lee Westwood (Eng)
14.06 Lucas Herbert (Aus), Seamus Power (Irl), Patrick Reed
14.17 Tom Hoge, Keita Nakajima (Jpn) -a-, Bubba Watson
14.39 Sung Jae Im (Kor), Marc Leishman (Aus), Webb Simpson
14.50 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Thomas Pieters (Bel), Harold Varner III
15.01 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
15.12 Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa
15.23 Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm (Spa), Will Zalatoris
15.34 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth
15.45 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy (NIrl)
15.56 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), J. J. Spaun
16.18 Austin Greaser -a-, Padraig Harrington (Irl), Mike Weir (Can)
16.29 Larry Mize, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Sepp Straka (Aut)
16.40 Fred Couples, Garrick Higgo (Rsa), Guido Migliozzi (Ita)
16.51 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor), Ryan Palmer, Vijay Singh (Fij)
17.02 Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Hudson Swafford, Cameron Young
17.13 Stewart Cink, Brian Harman, Harry Higgs
17.24 Aaron Jarvis (Cay) -a-, Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim (Kor)
17.35 Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Luke List, Matthew Wolff
17.57 Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Danny Willett (Eng)
18.08 Max Homa, Shane Lowry (Irl), Kevin Na
18.19 Daniel Berger, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Kevin Kisner
18.30 Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith (Aus)
18.41 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Tiger Woods
18.52 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), James Piot -a-, Justin Thomas
19.03 Tony Finau, Scottie Scheffler, Adam Scott (Aus)
