AUGUSTA – Windy conditions at Augusta National will be a major factor today as the second round of The Masters gets underway with 8:00am (ET) tee-times. Although the forecast is for sunny skies and temperatures ranging from a chilly 49-degrees for first tee times but warming to 66-degrees by 5:00pm (ET), winds will blow at 3 mph in the morning and build to 21 mph by 5:00pm (ET).
To say the least, shot making and putting will be an adventure today, especially for the later afternoon groups. That will include Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann who tee-off at 1:41pm (ET). Niemann, yesterday, shot three-under (69) and is two shots off the leader, Sungjae Im who carded five-under (67).
Woods, an 82-time PGA Tour winner and five-time Masters Tournament champion, opened with a 1-under (71) and is T-10 in his first competitive round since the final round of the 2020 Masters (508 days ago).
Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama is T-19 after shooting even-par 70. The last player to successfully defend his Masters title was Tiger Woods in 2002.
Cameron Smith (2nd) and Scottie Scheffler (T-3), both winners in their most recent starts on the Tour, are within two strokes of the lead. The last player to win on the PGA Tour and win a major in his next start was Jordan Spieth, at the 2017 Travelers Championship In Hartford and the Open Championship in Britain.
Scheffler, who has three wins in his last five starts, is making his first start as World No. 1 (also No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings). Four of the six players at T-3 or better have won on Tour this season, combining for seven wins (3/Scheffler, 2/Smith, 1/Sungjae Im, and 1/Joaquin Niemann).
Two past champions are tied for third place: Dustin Johnson (2020) and Danny Willett (2016).
Leaderboard | After 18 Holes
Sungjae Im 67 (-5)
Cameron Smith 68 (-4)
Danny Willett 69 (-3)
Joaquin Niemann 69 (-3)
Scottie Scheffler 69 (-3)
Dustin Johnson 69 (-3)
Full Leaderboard: (link)
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