Scottie Scheffler Takes Control Of The Masters After Second Round
Scottie Scheffler overcame an uneven start and blustery conditions to take control of the Masters after a second-round 67 at Augusta National on Friday.
The former Texas Longhorn has a five-shot edge going into the final 36 holds as he seeks his first Masters title. He will be the only Longhorn in the field as Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, missed the cut for the first time in his Masters career.
Historically, Scheffler’s 5-shot lead is the largest 36-hole lead that has led to a Masters title. Spieth led by five shots after 36 holes when he won in 2015.
While Spieth failed to make the cut, Tiger Woods — playing in his first Masters since his car accident 16 months ago — did make the cut at 1-over par after 36 holes, thanks to a 2-over-par 74.
Scheffler leads 15 players that are under par going into the weekend, including a quartet of players tied for second at 3-under. That group includes 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel, South Korea’s Sungjae Im, Shane Lowry, and defending champion Hideki Matsuyama.
Scheffler will play in the final group tomorrow and conditions are expected to include temperatures in the low 60s. He will tee off at 1:50 p.m. central with Schwartzel.
The world’s No. 1 player bolstered his round by going 4-under on the par-5’s at Augusta National. Already in the lead after he made the turn at 4-under, Scheffler built on it with a wonderful back nine, as he made four birdies in a five-hole stretch and avoided the bogeys that he dealt with early in his second round.
Scheffler birdied the par-3 12th hole, the last part of ‘Amen Corner,’ for the second straight day. He fired his tee shot 12 feet below the cup and drained the putt using the gentle left-to-right break.
Then, at the par-5 13th hole, he scrambled for birdie. His second shot scooted way right of the green and in front of Rae’s Creek. In fact, it was so far right it actually gave Scheffler a good angle to the back pin, where he pitched to within four feet and made the birdie to move to 6-under for the tournament. By that point, he had a three-shot lead.
He saved par at the 14th when his second shot hit a false front and rolled back to the fringe. His pitch ended up six feet from the cup.
Scheffler gained another birdie on the par-5 15th to move to 7-under. His second shot ended up in a collection area well right of the green, but he pitched to within nine feet and then made a birdie that broke left to right.
He birdied the par-3 16th too, thanks to a tee shot that led to a seven-foot birdie putt. That moved him to 8-under for the event and 5-under for the round.
At the par-4 17th, Scheffler put his drive on the left side around the trees and had an obscured path to the green. He was able to draw his approach in front of the green. He was able to get up and down for par.
At the par-4 18th, he sent his tee shot well to the right, into the trees and on top of pine straw. But, he had a window through a set of pine trees to hit an approach and put it inside of 10 feet for a birdie attempt. But he left the birdie attempt just short and settled for par.
Scheffler has never won a major championship, but he has finished in the Top 10 of the last three majors and has won three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour. His last victory, at the World Golf Championships Match Play, allowed him to move to No. 1 in the world rankings. If he wins the Masters, he’ll be the first player to make the Masters his first win after becoming the world’s No. 1 since Ian Woosnam did it in 1991.
On the front, the wind was whipping flagsticks and Schwartzel’s 3-under 69 for the second round looked like a good round in the clubhouse. Scheffler’s start left a lot to be desired.
His tremendous drive at No. 1 led to a short approach and a chip to within eight feet of the cup. Scheffler missed the par save and lost a shot.
He bounced back to record a relatively easy birdie at the par-5 second. But, on the third, he wasted a huge 300-yard drive with a second shot that shot past the hole and rolled nearly 40 feet past the cup. Faced with a speedy downhill putt, Scheffler ran the putt nine feet past the hole and moved back to 2-under for the event.
From there, Scheffler started exerting control over his round and the event. After three straight pars, he drained an eight-foot birdie putt at the seventh hole to get back to even-par for the round and put him back in a tie for the lead.
At the par-5 eighth hole, Scheffler nearly reached the green in two shots and pitched his third to within three feet of the cup to set up a birdie that moved him to 4-under-par and gave him the outright lead.
He ended up with a 1-under 35 on the front nine, but it could have been better had he not burned the right edge of the cup on a 4-foot birdie putt on the ninth.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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