MASTERS 2017: Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler part of four-way tie at the top
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Rickie Fowler and Thomas Pieters led the late surge during the second day of the Masters to join Sergio Garcia and Charley Hoffman at the top of the leaderboard on four-under-par.
All four players at the top are searching for their first major title, while former major Champions sit within touching distance in a much more tightly packed field than after the first round on Thursday.
Sergio Garcia stole the headlines early on Friday evening as he became the first player to join overnight leader Charley Hoffman at the top of the leaderboard with a three-under-par round of 69.
As Hoffman was unable to retain first-round form and posted five bogeys in six holes, Garcia’s birdie-birdie-birdie start quickly saw him catch up with the first round leader.
However, it did momentarily look like Garcia’s round had begun to unravel after the scoreboards mistakenly reported he had made a triple-bogey seven at the 10th – but an hour later all was resolved and two more birdies helped him to the top of the pack and in contention for what could potentially be the major that feels long overdue.
“I was hitting good shots and rolling some good putts in which under these conditions is not easy to do,” Garcia said.
“I feel like I played great, and I feel like I hit the ball better than yesterday. Obviously there was a couple of stupid mistakes but it can happen when the course is playing this way. I stayed positive which was good, I just tried to forget about it and move on and made some good pars and a couple of birdies coming in”
Bettering Garcia’s birdies was the early eagle on the second for Fowler, who then went on to fly to the turn in 32. Despite a bogey on the 15th Fowler managed to card the lowest-round of the day with a five-under-par 67 – to match his best ever score at the Masters.
Following his round, Rickie said he felt as if they had been a lot luckier in the afternoon with the weather conditions.
“I feel like we got maybe the good side of the draw as the wind laid down a little bit down this afternoon. It still played tough, but I’m definitely pleased with the round today. I was bogey free for a while and it would have been nice to have held on to that”
“I’m excited, especially with where the game’s been at coming off the win at the Honda. I’m looking forward to the weekend, it’s going to be fun”
Thomas Pieters had stumbled yesterday despite an incredible start, but managed a blemish-free 68 during his second round to also put himself in the clubhouse at four-under-par in the group that is two-ahead of William McGirt.
Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Ryan Moore and Fred Couples make up the chasing pack on one-under, while former Masters champions Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson are all T10 at level par at the half-way stage.
It could have been a different story for Rory McIlroy, but the World No.2 had possibly the cruellest break of the day, hitting a pin-point accurate approach shot which then clattered the flag on the 18th green and rebounded 30 yards back in the fairway. He ended up with a final-hole bogey for a one-over-par round of 73, and sits five back of the leaders.
He said: “It was another day where you just had to battle and make a lot of pars and make a birdie here and there. The shot at the last looked like it would be a tap-in birdie and I made five. These things happen I just have to go out and birdie the first tomorrow and it will all be forgotten”
Who didn’t make the cut at the Masters?
This year’s cut sees 53 players make the weekend, with the line being drawn at +6 for the tournament. It was a tough break for last year’s Champion Danny Willett, who failed to recover from an opening-hole eight and missed his chance to make it in to the weekend by one.
Among the others to miss the cut were previous Masters champions Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson, as well as Open Champion Henrik Stenson.
