AUGUSTA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – There’s no shortage of stars jockeying for position midway through the Masters. England’s Justin Rose is eager to see how this plays out. Rose maintained the lead through the second round by shooting 1-under-par 71 on Friday.
He’s aiming for his first victory at Augusta National Golf Club, though this is the third time he has been at the top of the leaderboard through 36 holes in the tournament.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to knock on the door,” Rose said. “… You’re going to have to play great golf, and you’re going to have to go out there and want it and go for it and get after it.”
Rose stands at 8-under 136 but his lead has been reduced from three strokes to one, and there are several big-name golfers in close pursuit. LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau is in second place after shooting a 68.
“This is what golf is about. Got a lot of great names up there, and looking forward to an unbelievable test of golf,” DeChambeau said.
N. Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (66 on Friday) is tied at 6 under with Canada’s Corey Conners (70).
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (71), Matt McCarty (68), England’s Tyrrell Hatton (70) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (68) are at 5 under. It looked like Hatton might be in position to catch Rose until bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17.
“We’ve got some great guys on top of the leaderboard, so it should be a fun weekend,” Scheffler said.
Rose has captured one major, the 2013 U.S. Open, and he likes being in the conversation in the big tournaments.
“That’s the company that I expect to keep, and that’s where I have tried to be my whole career,” Rose said. “That’s where I’ve been for a lot of my career.”
Rose had four birdies and three bogeys. After sinking a 7-foot birdie at the par-3 17th hole to get to 9 under, he found the sand on No. 18 and couldn’t save par.
DeChambeau, who holed out from a bunker for birdie on No. 4, played the front nine in 4 under before making a bunch of pars interrupted only by a bogey on No. 16 and a birdie on the next hole.
Patience will be crucial for DeChambeau this weekend.
“It’s not easy to try and be more conservative when you know the leaders are starting to run away from it,” he said.
McIlroy got rolling on the back nine with three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 13th, where he drove it into the pine straw but hit a perfect second shot to 9 feet of the pin.
He said he tried not to be consumed with the notable names on the leaderboard.
“I was just looking for my name,” he said, drawing laughter. “I was not really worried about the others.”
Scheffler, who has won two of the past three Masters, had a couple of costly three-putts Friday. He finished with six birdies and five bogeys.
“Extremely challenging when you get greens this fast and you get that much wind, especially when it’s gusty,” Scheffler said. “It can be quite challenging.”
McCarty, in the Masters for the first time, had a horrid start at 3 over through two holes but bounced back with eight birdies, including four in a row at Nos. 6-9. Even with a bogey on the last hole, he’s at 5 under for the tournament.
Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard (67), Norway’s Viktor Hovland (69) and Australia’s Jason Day (70) are at 4 under.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im reached 6 under for the tournament through 14 holes but slumped late in the round. His 70 left him at 3 under.
Along with Im, the group at 3 under includes Patrick Reed (70), Collin Morikawa (69), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (68) and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (73).
Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany missed the cut by one stroke at 3 over after missing a par putt on the final hole. He shot rounds of 74 and 73 in his 41st and final Masters.
“Coming up 18 was mixed emotions because I was still inside the cut line, and even when I made bogey, I wasn’t sure I’m totally out of there or not,” Langer said. “I actually thought 3-over would make the cut, as windy as it was.”
Langer, 67, received countless ovations through the tournament’s first two rounds.
“I always appreciated the beauty of this golf course and the challenges you have to face, pretty much on every shot,” he said. “The support of the patrons and so much more.”
Others falling outside the cut line include Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley at 3 over, Fred Couples and Spain’s Sergio Garcia at 4 over, and Brooks Koepka, Australian Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson at 5 over.
“It felt like this was a good week, a good opportunity for me, and unfortunately I didn’t score,” said Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion. “It’s disappointing because I felt I was playing well enough to at least be in the hunt.”
–Field Level Media