14 Things to Remember From Day 2 at the 2023 Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga.—The weather wasn’t perfect but Brooks Koepka nearly was in Friday’s second round at the Masters Tournament. However, two storms delayed play in the mid-afternoon and buckets of rain are expected Saturday, so there’s no telling what effect this Tournament Interruptus will have. On the plus side, it’ll be good for Masters logo umbrella sales.
Here are the highlights, lowlights and stoplights from Friday’s second-round action at storied and soon-to-be-soggy Augusta National Golf Club…
1. The Koepka Chase: Not to be confused with Chase Koepka, Brooks’ brother. Brooks Koepka is halfway to making a Masters win look as easy as last week’s LIV Golf 54-hole victory at a public course near Orlando. His 65-67 start has put the Masters’ field on its heels. Only two players are within five shots of him—Jon Rahm, who trails by three but still has nine holes to play in his second round Saturday morning, and stunning amateur Sam Bennett, who is four back after posting a second straight 68.
“It feels good to be on top,” Koepka said later when he visited Golf Channel’s set.
What’s Koepka doing well this week? “Everything,” said former U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland, who was paired with him. “It was a clinic for 36 holes. His iron play was a joke. He couldn’t have missed many greens. It was really impressive.”
Memo to Masters pursuers in search of Koepka, a four-time major champion: Uh-oh.
2. The Tiger Report: There’s still a chance for a Tiger weekend. Woods made seven pars, one birdie and a bogey on the front side before play was halted late Friday afternoon. His one blemish came at the par-4 7th, where his approach shot came up short, stopping on the upslope. He made an unusual pass at the ball with his wedge, almost stabbing at it, and semi-bladed it over the back of the green. Then he played a superb chip for a tap-in bogey. He got that stroke back with a birdie at the 8th, a par 5, where his second shot came up just short of the green and he once again chipped brilliantly for an easy birdie. After the stoppage, Woods was tied for 50th, right on the cutline. The top 50 scores and ties play the final 36 holes.
3. Two outta three ain’t good. Golf’s current Great Triumvirate had mixed results. Spain’s Jon Rahm birdied 8 and 9 to get within three shots of leader Brooks Koepka when a second storm stopped play before he could take on the back nine. Defending champ Scottie Scheffler doubled the 9th hole, bogeyed 18 and shot 75 to fall 11 strokes off the lead. And Rory McIlroy suffered bogeys like a multi-car freeway pileup, making seven of them, en route to a stunningly bad 77 to miss the cut.
4. A lack of defense. The record winning Masters score should maybe come with an asterisk since Dustin Johnson posted 20 under in that one-off Masters played in November when conditions were soft. But here’s something you should know about Koepka’s 65-67 start and his 12-under-par total: That score is already lower than 7 of the past 11 winning scores here. So you’re potentially watching something special, something transcendental. Maybe even Tiger-esque. Check back in 36 more holes.
5. It’s called timing. Jon Rahm was in the middle of a bunker shot at the seventh hole when—Waaaaaaa! A bullhorn sounded the stoppage of play in the middle of his backswing. The shot came up eight feet short and an irritated Rahm who immediately turned and barked, “Really?” The incident had a happy ending. When play resumed 20 minutes later, he holed the par putt.
6. No, that leaderboard isn’t hallucinating. That really was Phil Mickelson’s name on the board Friday afternoon. Mickelson turned in a 3-under 69 and moved to 4 under par. He’s eight behind Koepka but only two shots out of fourth. Nobody saw this coming. Mickelson hasn’t been beating many on the rival LIV Tour, but this week he looks and sounds like the Phil of old, not an old Phil. Mickelson hit only 21 greens in two rounds but had needed only 52 putts and is 4 under par.
“I’m going on a tear pretty soon,” he said. “I’ve been hitting the ball great and turning 65s, 66 into 77s. You wouldn’t think that at 52. I’m on the precipice of playing as well as I played 15, 20 years ago.”
7. Quote of the Day, bronze medal. Two-time Masters champions Jose Maria Olazabal, who missed the cut at 10 over par, on what went wrong: “It’s a technical thing, yeah. Or from the neck up, one of the two.”
8. The Next Slammin’ Sam: The legend of Sam Bennett grew even bigger in the second round. The Texas A&M amateur got through 21 holes before making his first bogey at the par-4 4th. He shot another 68 and is turning heads. He will probably be the Masters’ low amateur by default—four of the other six will miss the cut and two still on the course would need major rallies to avoid the same fate. But Bennett is aiming higher. “Everybody was like, Yeah, hope you get Low Am,” he said. “I knew my golf was good enough to compete. I’m sitting here with a chance to do something special on the weekend.”
He’s got Tiger attitude. Nice!
9. Shanks for the help. Bubba Watson caught a break when his tee shot at the 13th hole caromed out of the left trees and back into play near Rae's Creek. He tried to play a low fade around the trees on his second shot but, omg, dead-shanked it into the woods. He seemed stunned for a few moments, then held out his hand for another ball, which his caddie supplied. On the next swing, he hit a double-cross that sizzled into the gallery right of the fairway, causing several fans to jump out of the way. Then he hit a pitch shot that braked to a stop five feet past the hole. His score at the 13th was not reported so apparently he didn't finish the hole before play was halted and subsequently canceled for the day. His putt was to save a bogey 6. He was 7 over and tied for 74th at the time.
10. Gnome is where the heart is. For some reason, the Masters gnome figurines have become collector’s items and rapidly sell out of the Masters gift shop. ESPN’s Marty Smith and Michael Collins did a segment on the phenomenon and had a whole collection of gnomes on the set during the spot. Don’t tell them but I swear one of the gnomes blinked. It’s alive! But shhhh.
11. The top-secret Low Round of the Day. One other Friday finisher joined Koepka in shooting 67 but managed to get zero attention. It was K.H. Lee, whose 5-under-par round vaulted him to 18th following an opening 74. Lee had seven birdies, 27 putts and is 5 under on the par-5 holes after two rounds. Lee, 30, won the AT&T Byron Nelson last May and is playing his first Masters.
12. Quote of the Day, silver medal. Justin Rose on what he’s looking forward to on the weekend (with bad weather expected): “I don’t think anyone’s looking forward to the weekend. Other than just being here, obviously.”
13. At least he’s eligible for Medicare. Sixty-five-year-old Bernhard Langer missed the cut, shooting 75-74. Asked what he needed to finish better, Langer answered, “Putting. I putted horrible.” He solved that problem at the 11th hole. After bouncing his approach shot into the pond left of the green, he made a deft pitch that trickled into the cup to save par.
So now it’s back to PGA Tour Champions for Langer, where’s he’s tied with Hale Irwin for the most career victories, 45, and has $34.1 million in winnings—about what Dustin Johnson won in LIV Golf last year.
14. Quote of the Day, gold medal. Amateur Sam Bennett, after a second straight 68 put him in third place, on whether he knew third paid $1.4 million last year and if he regrets not being eligible to get paid: “Yeah, I don't know. NIL (the Name Image Likeness rule that allows college athletes to collect endorsement money) has been pretty good this year.”