Scheffler, DeChambeau and Homa have a share of the lead after two rounds, while Woods made a record 24th consecutive Masters cut
Michael Bailey
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Lukas Weese·Associate Editor, News
Day two at the Masters
It was a windy, gusty Friday at Augusta National for the second round of the Masters.
It's a three-way tie atop the leaderboard heading into the weekend with Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa all at 6-under-par.
DeChambeau, who was the 18-hole leader, shot a second-round 73. He is searching for his second major championship this weekend.
Scheffler shot even par in his second round. The 2022 Masters champion is also searching for his second major after victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship.
Then there's Homa, who continued his brilliant play after his first round Thursday was suspended due to darkness. After playing 23 holes Friday, Homa shot a second-round 71, putting himself in contention to win his first major.
Tiger Woods shot a second-round 72 and made a record 24th cut at the Masters. Woods also played 23 holes on Friday after completing his first round in the morning.
Follow live coverage of the third round here.
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Leaderboard:
T1: Scheffler -6 (72)
T1: Homa -6 (71)
T1: DeChambeau -6 (73)
4: Højgaard -4 (73)
T5: Davis -3 (72)
T5: Morikawa -3 (70)
T24. Woods +1 (72)
Third-round tee times
Third-round tee times for the Masters are out.
Tiger Woods is teeing off at 12:45 p.m. ET with Tyrrell Hatton.
Below are the final Saturday groupings:
2:05 p.m. ET: Cameron Young/Tommy Fleetwood
2:15 p.m. ET: Ludvig Åberg/Matthieu Pavon
2:25 p.m. ET: Cameron Davis/Collin Morikawa
2:35 p.m. ET: Scottie Scheffler/Nicolai Højgaard
2:45 p.m. ET: Max Homa/Bryson DeChambeau
Read the full Saturday tee times here.
Finally, here's the link for our live coverage of the third round.
See you there.
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How Neal Shipley claimed Masters low amateur honors: ‘A little bit of grit’
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Neal Shipley wasn’t raised in a golf family. But he did grow up with a family that loved golf.
The Sunday afternoon of the 2004 PGA Championship was all it took for the Ohio State graduate student — the only amateur to make the cut at this week’s Masters — to fish his dad’s neglected golf clubs out of a closet and give this humbling game a lifelong shot.
“Me and my dad were on our couch,” Shipley said on Friday after finishing 36 holes at Augusta National in 3-over and making the cut by three shots. “And Vijay Singh won. The next day I took my dad’s golf clubs, which were dusty and probably never used, and started swinging around. I decided to get my own little set, and it took off from there.”
Shipley wasn’t just hooked, he was adamant. As an elementary schooler, he told anyone in his hometown of Mt. Lebanon, Penn. that he intended to become a professional golfer. In the second grade, he took his bag to school for “show and tell.” Shipley’s class ventured outdoors at recess to watch him launch drivers into the schoolyard. He was a regular at his local junior league. Shipley’s family eventually decided to join St. Clair Country Club, so he could properly hone his craft.
“We joined a country club so that he’d have a place to play,” says his father, also named Neal Shipley, “But we’re not country club people.”
Twenty years later, Shipley will play the weekend at the 88th Masters at a firm and fast Augusta National after being invited as the 2023 U.S. Amateur runner-up. He’s tied for 30th, hanging right in there with legends of the game, including 61-year-old Singh, who sits at 4-over, one stroke behind the 23-year-old on the leaderboard through 36 holes.
Round of the day: Ludvig Åberg
(Photo: David Cannon / Getty Images)
Ludvig Åberg shot the round of the day Friday with a second-round 69.
The last player to have the round of the day at the Masters — no ties — in his Masters Tournament debut was Smylie Kaufman in 2016 (69 in round three).
History of world No. 1 holding 36-hole lead at Masters
Since the OWGR began in 1986, this will be the fourth time the reigning No. 1 has held the 36-hole lead at the Masters.
1996 Greg Norman — led by four (finished 2nd)
2020 Dustin Johnson — co-led (won)
2022 Scottie Scheffler — led by five (won)
2024 Scottie Scheffler — co-leader
A challenging scoring day at Augusta
Today (75.08) was the highest field scoring average in round two of The Masters since 2007, and just the fourth time in the last 30 years the field averaged higher than 75 in the second round.
Who missed the cut?
The wind was punishing Friday, seemingly eliminating stars in a matter of seconds with one blowup hole being enough to derail a round. Double bogey became a common score to see, like reigning Open Champion Brian Harman (+9) finishing his first round Friday morning by going triple-bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey.
Maybe the most painful missed cut was Justin Thomas. The two-time major winner was even par with four holes to go, but he double-bogeyed 15 and 16, bogeyed 17 and double-bogeyed 18 to miss the cut by losing seven shots in four holes.
Viktor Hovland was one of the best players in the world six months ago, but his fascinating, strange struggles continue as Hovland went from 4-under early Thursday to shooting an 81 in round two to drop to 8-over and miss out on the weekend.
Others to miss the cut include three-time major winner Jordan Spieth (+9), Wyndham Clark (+7), Sam Burns (+9) and Dustin Johnson (+13).
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LIV has 8 make the cut
DeChambeau is certainly doing most of the heavy lifting for the LIV field as he sits at 6-under for the co-lead, but LIV brought 13 golfers to the Masters and eight made the cut. It might not be looking like the same success as three golfers finishing top four last year, yet multiple players are still in the mix.
DataGolf gives DeChambeau a 23 percent chance of winning the Masters, while Cam Smith sits at 1-under par at the halfway point. Smith is one of the better players at Augusta, with four top-10s here in the last five years. Patrick Reed, another Masters expert who won the green jacket in 2018, is T16 at even par.
Other LIV golfers to make the cut include Brooks Koepka (+2), Tyrell Hatton (+2), Joaquin Niemann (+4), Phil Mickelson (+4) and Jon Rahm (+5). Rahm, the defending Masters champ, shot 76 in round two to take himself out of contention but still made the cut. Meanwhile, 2020 Masters champ Dustin Johnson missed out at 13-over.
DeChambeau in lead with new custom-made irons
One of the stories of the tournament has been not just DeChambeau’s impressive play — where he co-leads at 6-under par — but also his fascinating switch to a new set of custom-made, 3D-printed irons that were only approved by the USGA this week.
The approval was down to the wire, with DeChambeau receiving feedback last week they’d be non-conforming due to too sharp of groove edges. He didn’t receive full approval of the set made by a company called Avoda until early Tuesday morning. Despite the Masters being 48 hours away, he switched to them immediately and felt comfortable by the end of Wednesday. Thursday, he shot a first-round 65 for the solo lead.
“They have just got a different curvature on the face than other equipment,” Dechambeau explained. “Most equipment is flat. These have a different curvature on the face that allows me to have my mis-hits to go a little straighter sometimes.”
DeChambeau has had the idea for these irons since 2020, and when asked if he couldn’t find a manufacturer to make them he only said: “I’m not going to speak much more on that but I’ve had this idea for a long, long time.”
The set is one of a kind, with DeChambeu confirming there is no backup set. He said they’re holding up well, but if anything did happen to them he would switch back to his Ping i330s that he’s been using since July. It’s worth noting that since July, DeChambeau has had two LIV wins and four straight top-10s.
Scheffler shoots second-round 72
(Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
After a tricky day at Augusta National, Scottie Scheffler is atop the leaderboard at the Masters.
He shot a second-round 72 with three birdies and three bogeys.
Scheffler is in a three-way tie atop the leaderboard with Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa.
JT misses the cut
Justin Thomas will once again miss the cut at the Masters due to an abysmal back nine. The two-time major champion finished double-double-bogey-double to shoot a back nine 42, carding a 7-over 79 for his second round. Thomas suffered a very similar fate last year at Augusta National, when he came in with four bogeys and a double to miss the weekend, playing in a torrential downpour.
While many big names struggled on Friday afternoon on a firm, fast and brutally windy Augusta, Thomas's implosion feels particularly notable, especially in the wake of his recent split with his longtime caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay.
Thomas missed the cut in three of the four majors last season and hoped 2024 would serve as a sort of blank slate. So far, his PGA Tour results have shown signs of hope (he has four top-12s this season) but is Thomas still in the midst of his major championship slump?
Tiger compared to the field average
(Photo: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Tiger Woods beat the field average in each of the first two rounds. Today was the 80th time in his Masters career he's shot a score better than the field that day.
Highest percentage of rounds beating field in Masters history (min. 30 rounds):
Lloyd Mangrum, 81.7 percent
Tiger Woods, 81.6 percent
Ben Hogan, 79.6 percent
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Hovland falls to 8-over-par
Viktor Hovland is now 8-over but he's still having a very good week because all golf clothing discourse is now solely about Jason Day/Malbon.
Max Homa is finally having his Masters breakthrough
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Max Homa walked up to the beginning of the most famous three holes in golf, alone, unconcerned with the legend behind him. Unconcerned with the surroundings or the stage.
Back on the 10th green, Tiger Woods and Jason Day took their time reading putts and finishing the hole. But Homa had his par. He had his co-lead at the Masters. So for a full two minutes, Homa walked ahead, up the hill to the start of Amen Corner.
This time was going to be different. This time, he was going to worry about himself.
He thought back to his journal scribblings from Thursday night, a habit he’s been focusing on the past year. He writes what he’s grateful for and mental goals for the day. And on Thursday night he wrote a simple mantra.
However good I am is however good I am.
Read more about Homa's second-round performance here.
Rahm back-to-back birdies
Jon Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, had a double bogey on the 14th hole.
That brought him to 6-over, below the cut line.
How did Rahm respond?
With back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16. His birdie on 16 was well below the hole on the green.
Rahm is 4-over-par and currently inside the cut line. Can he hang on to make the weekend?
Zach Johnson responds to apparent profanity toward patrons: 'That's laughable'
Zach Johnson responded to his apparent profanity toward patrons on the par-3 12th.
"That I swore at the patrons? That's laughable," Johnson said. "That's completely laughable. I can't hear the patrons, number one. Number two, I just made a triple bogey on the 12th hole that evidently is going to make me miss the cut, which at the time I knew was pretty sensitive in the sense that I needed to keep making pars.
"If I've said anything, which I'm not going to deny, especially if it's on camera, one, I apologize, and two, it was fully directed towards myself entirely because I can't hear anything behind me. Does that make sense?"
Scheffler bogeys 13 after finding water
Scottie Scheffler entered the 13th hole with a one-shot lead at the Masters. He left it in a three-way tie with Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau after putting an aggressive second shot into Rae's Creek. His nice chip from the drop gave him a chance to save par, but he just barely missed the putt to ultimately bogey the hole. Some might call it slight karma after Scheffler caught a lucky break on 13 yesterday.
He hit a similar approach that fell short in round one but that time it miraculously stayed up on the hill above the creek. He was able to chip up and still birdie the hole. Now, he enters the final five holes at even par for the round.
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Tyrrell Hatton criticizes pace of play
(Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Englishman Tyrell Hatton criticized the pace of play in the group in front of him at the Masters on Friday, a group that included LIV teammate Patrick Reed in addition to Sungjae Im and Kurt Kitayama.
"Yeah, the lads in front have been so slow," Hatton said. "It's pretty poor from the officials that it took 32 holes to put them on the clock. Yesterday they'd lost a hole and a half, and then they weren't any better even this morning, and then for the second round they were just brutal. Fine for them; they're not waiting on any shot that they hit. But for us, we stood in the fairway, we stood on the tee. It was really hard to get a rhythm, so it was disappointing that it took 32 holes for an official to go, oh, we've put the group in front on the clock."
Hatton said he said something to a rules official on the eighth hole when his group had to wait to hit on 8 because the group ahead was still putting on the green. He said he knew that group was the culprit because the group two ahead was already teeing off on the 10th hole.
"It's a small field. It's not hard to really keep up with the group in front. I understand if you've had a tough hole, but when it's just like every hole, then it's a bit more frustrating."
DeChambeau shoots 73
(Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Bryson DeChambeau shoots a second-round 73.
An up and down back nine for DeChambeau who recorded three bogeys and two birdies.
He also had the content moment of the day when he carried a direction sign with his bare hand.
DeChambeau is currently at 6-under-par and tied with Max Homa.
Scottie Scheffler is the solo leader at 7-under-par.
Howling winds at Augusta
The winds are howling at Augusta National.
Gary Woodland's ball at the par-3 16th moved down the green from its original spot.
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele had an extra wait at the par-4 11th.
A difficult conclusion to this second round ahead.
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