He’s done it! Tiger wins fifth Masters in dramatic Augusta finale

Masters report: What happened on Friday at Augusta National?

What a weekend we’ve got in store at the Masters – a quintet of major champions at the top of the leaderboard and a big cat on the prowl.

There’s the champion golfer of the year, a man who can’t stop winning majors, a player practically on crutches and, just behind, the legend looking to seal the ultimate comeback. Every story you can imagine is playing out after a dramatic second day at Augusta National.

Francesco Molinari, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen all have a share of the spoils at 7-under par, and the leaderboard is absolutely stacked with Tiger Woods among those just a shot off the pace.

Molinari was superb, his 67 a flawless round consisting of five birdies and no bogeys. He has only dropped one shot in 36 holes.

Day looked like he needed a stretcher on standby on day one during his opening 70. But he must have a hell of a physio as he came out hot with a birdie at the second and finished by picking up three shots in five holes.

When overnight leaders Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau made early birdies, it looked ominous for the rest of the field.

The former succumbed to a double bogey at the second, though, while the Scientist self-combusted around the turn as he plummeted down the leaderboard with a 75.

Koepka, who only seems awake when it’s a major, managed to stick around and grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie at the last for 71.

Scott and Oosthuizen, meanwhile, turned on the style during the afternoon with rounds of 68 and 66 respectively.

Leaderboard | Tee times

They’ll all be looking over their shoulder at a surging Tiger. His dreams of a fifth Green Jacket are well and truly alive after he birdied the 9th and 11th and then, after a short weather delay for threat of thunderstorms, also picked up shots at 14 and 15 in a 68.

And what of Rory McIlroy? The pre-tournament favourite endured another see-saw day and, standing at even par, will need a very low third round if he’s to have any chance of achieving the Grand Slam.

There are 28 players within five shots of the lead – we’ve not even mentioned Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Ian Poulter or the impressive Justin Harding.

But while the pedigree of that list is immense, plenty of the early fancies are having the weekend off.

World No. 1 Justin Rose and Paul Casey, along with 2016 winner Danny Willett and 2017 champion Sergio Garcia, are among those to have missed the cut.

Masters report: Day two talking points

Maybe there’s a heavy dose of schadenfreude involved but I personally love those few and far between moments when professional golfers make a right mess of things like the rest of us.

There was one for the ages – and forever to be replayed thanks to social media – when Zach Johnson did something quite bizarre at the 13th.

Going through his pre-shot routine, the 2007 Masters winner made a final practice swing and, as he followed through, hit his ball. It knocked against the right tee marker and jumped forward on the teeing area.

Zach Johnson hitting his ball on 13th tee on a practice swing.

WOW. 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/UcUkKYOEVm

— National Club Golfer (@NCG_com) April 12, 2019

Cue plenty of guffawing from the viewers at home and from playing partners Matt Kuchar and Ian Poulter too.

Johnson was momentarily stunned but, while he was caught unawares, both Kuchar and Poulter knew what had happened and Zach re-teed it and hit without counting either a stroke or a penalty.

So why was that the case? Well, it’s because the ball on the teeing area was not classed as being in play and there had been no intent to take a shot.

Rule 6.2b (5) in the Rules of Golf covers this and states the ball is not in play until a player makes a stroke at it.

That rule also says that if the “teed ball falls off the tee or is knocked off the tee by the player before the player has made a stroke at it, it may be re-teed anywhere in the teeing area without penalty”.

In the definition of what a stroke is, the Rules say one has not been made if the player “accidentally strikes the ball when making a practice swing or while preparing to make a stroke”.

Had this situation occurred when the ball was in play, though, for example in the fairway but with the exception of the green, Johnson would have suffered a one-stroke penalty with the ball having to be replaced.

Had the same thing happened with a ball in play, it would be a one-stroke penalty and the ball would have to be replaced (unless it happened on the putting green, where there is no penalty).

— USGA (@USGA) April 12, 2019

So in this case, apart from some wounded pride, there was no sanction for Zach, who went on to birdie the hole as he recorded a 73 to creep into the weekend.

**

With rounds on the first day taking more than five hours, and similar times experienced for some participants in round two, many players are unified in the need to speed up the game.

Unless, of course, you’re one of those at risk of getting pinged for slow play. Bernhard Langer will play the final two rounds of the Masters yet again after the 61-year-old added a level par 72 to his excellent 71 on Thursday.

The two-time champion told reporters afterwards, though, he was less than impressed with finding himself put on the clock early on. He was pointing the blame squarely at others.

“They came over on the third hole and they told us we’re 10 minutes behind,” he said. “Yeah, we waited eight minutes on the tee shot on 2 and then four minutes on the second shot on 2. That’s 12 minutes. So no wonder we’re 10 minutes behind.

“They said you’re 10 minutes behind. I said ‘well, is that my fault? We can’t play any faster. Want me to hit it over their heads?’ You’d think they’d have more common sense.”

Clock or not, it would still take something out of the ordinary for rules chiefs to actually enforce a slow play penalty at Augusta – despite all the recommendations in the new Rules of Golf.

Masters report: Best quote

It never feels smooth around here – but it was pretty solid. All in all, a very good day

Francesco Molinari after his second-round 67.

Masters report: Best moments

Someone should tell the marshalls there is no slide tackling in golf…

Over eager marshal nearly takes @TigerWoods out at @TheMasters! pic.twitter.com/lDwFgudEnW

— ᴅᴏᴄ – GOLFCENTRALDAILY.com (@GolfCentralDoc) April 12, 2019

There has been little fuss, but this man is quietly going about his business. Could it be a second major title for JT?

.@justinthomas34 chips in for eagle on No. 15 to reach four under par for the Tournament. #themasters pic.twitter.com/VWHKPZpQXX

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2019

I hope there’s plenty of crystal in the Masters warehouse…

One bounce and it's in for an eagle 2 on No. 7 for @K_m_Mitchell. #themasters pic.twitter.com/m7kWjkHD5i

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2019

We’re going to need another van…

Charles Howell III reaches four under par for the Tournament with an eagle at No. 13. #themasters pic.twitter.com/0wqJ8RjL76

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2019

I’d quite like these two in next week’s team comp…

Rory 👉🏼 4ft
Rickie 👉🏼 2ft

194 yards is nothing to these guys.pic.twitter.com/1MCieNLmil

— National Club Golfer (@NCG_com) April 12, 2019

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Follow the Masters with NCG on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Need to get up to date with what happened in round one? That’s on the next page…

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