Rain and difficult pin placements at famed Augusta National kept leaders from making an early charge in yesterday's second round of the 77th Masters while Tiger Woods waited for a late tee time.
After 45 players toured the 7,435-yard layout at par or better in the first round, day two turned into a workman’s effort of trying to hold onto position, with Spain’s Sergio Garcia falling out of his share of the overnight lead.
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Australia’s Marc Leishman, the other first-round co-leader after an opening six-under par 66, prepared for an early afternoon start while rivals struggled with the conditions.
Garcia took bogeys at the par-4 third and par-3 fourth to stumble back beneath overcast skies.American Matt Kuchar moved into second place after an opening 68 and a birdie at the par-5 second yesterday. Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion from South Africa, joined Garcia in a share of third place at four-under.
World No 1 Woods, a 14-time major winner seeking his first major title since the 2008 US Open and first Masters triumph since 2005, opened with a 70, the same score that has launched three of his four Masters triumphs. China’s 14-year-old schoolboy sensation, Guan Tianlang, opened with a 73 to stand as the low amateur and the only one with a solid chance to make the cut. Bogeys at the par-3 fourth and par-4 seventh yesterday dropped Guan to three-over for the tournament.
A new expanded cut adopted this year will see the top 50 and level plus anyone else within 10 strokes of the lead reach the weekend.