It was a wild, windy day at Augusta National Golf Club, where even par was a good score and anything better might as well have been a miracle. Winds up to 45 mph and a firm golf course did not allow for much scoring as only 14 players were under par and the top score after the second round finished remained where it began -- 7 under.
Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, and Bryson DeChambeau find themselves tied atop the leaderboard after 36 tough holes with plenty of players lurking below ready to make a weekend run, including Tiger Woods.
Schlabach: I picked Scheffler to win by 5 strokes before the tournament, and I'm not backing down after 36 holes. I have to admit that I was expecting more from him in the second round, but the swirling winds and gusts of more than 30 mph were difficult for everyone -- even the No. 1 golfer in the world and best ball striker on the planet. Unless someone makes an unexpected charge from outside the top 10, I still like Scheffler's chances to win a green jacket more than anybody else's.
Uggetti: He might not be in the lead by himself, but given Scheffler's dominant play as of late, it feels like he's always got a leg up on the field whenever he tees it up. Don't get me wrong -- Scheffler has played good golf. But it still doesn't feel like he's playing up to his full potential, which we could be witness to come the weekend. Scheffler is actually gaining strokes putting (+0.33) on the field, which speaks to his improvement on the greens, an area that has typically held him back. Unsurprisingly, Scheffler is also leading the field in strokes gained: tee to green, a statistic on which he has led the entire PGA Tour this season. In that way, the start of the major season has been no different. "I think major championship golf has a tendency to just be very mentally grinding," Scheffler said. "Just with how much the wind is blowing. It can be so difficult, and you know, you've just got to do your best to relax as much as possible out there and try and execute." Nobody is better at executing than Scheffler. With the afternoon winds making the late rounds much harder, he was still able to remain at the top of the leaderboard. Put the best player in the world against Homa, DeChambeau, or anyone else in the same conditions, and good luck trying to beat him.
Schlabach: I wasn't sure if Tiger would even make the cut this week given that he had played only 24 holes of golf in one PGA Tour event before the Masters. Now, I'm convinced you can't count Woods out at Augusta National -- even if he's playing with a fused back and right ankle. He's only 7 shots behind the leaders, which isn't insurmountable over 36 holes. Tiger looked much better walking Friday afternoon than he did in the morning. The short turnaround from when play was suspended in the first round shortly before 8 p.m. ET Thursday, and the restart at 7:45 a.m. on Friday wasn't enough time for Woods to recover and get his body started again. He looked tired and sluggish early, but he eventually warmed up and played well in the second round. With a 1-over score after 36 holes, Woods won't have an early tee time on Saturday, so he'll get some additional rest before the third round. He's driving the ball great off the tee and his work around the greens is still world-class. There's no question his lack of reps has affected his iron play and putting -- he was 1-for-19 on putts outside 10 feet over the first 36 holes -- but he made some clutch putts to save par on Friday. I don't think Tiger is going to win a green jacket on Sunday, but I'm not sure a top-10 finish isn't out of the question for the 15-time major champion. Uggetti: A 1-over finish in these conditions to make his record 24th cut at the Masters is an incredible feat for Woods. He's still well back of the leaders, but it's impossible to count him out at least competing for a top-10 finish, if not better. Woods knows this golf course better than anyone in the field and has the potential to thrive in windy conditions. Watching him on Friday as he played 23 holes, it was evident both how much he used his course knowledge to his advantage and how much better he could have scored had his putting been slightly improved. Perhaps the weekend will bring a better result for Woods on the greens as he gets comfortable with the speed. So far, despite his putting shortcomings, he has kept himself in it thanks to great driving (11 of 14 fairways in both rounds) and an incredible short game. Woods has gone both high and low to save pars and it's been thrilling to watch him get in and out of tough situations. That creativity should continue to help him.
Both of them seem to be in a really nice spot mentally, and staying confident and relaxed is going to be important on the weekend. They're both playing very well at the moment.
Homa is a six-time winner on the PGA Tour and one of the most talented golfers in the world. But his track record in majors coming into the Masters was awful: He had one top-10 finish and two top-25s in 17 such starts. Homa finally seems convinced that he's good enough to win a major, and that's probably been the biggest obstacle holding him back.
Over the first 36 holes, he hit 72.2% of greens and 71.4% of fairways. He was gaining 2 strokes on the field in putting. If Homa keeps that up, he's going to be tough to beat.
DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S. Open and carded a 58 in the LIV Golf League last year. The guy still hits it a country mile -- he had a 372-yard bomb off the tee on the 17th hole in the second round -- but his game has matured beyond a dude who crushes it. He seems to be more patient and deliberate. He's trying to hit it to the right spots and has been avoiding the wrong ones. He's one of the best putters out there (he's gaining close to 2 strokes on the field on the greens) and his iron play was exceptional in the first round.
Patience. You know that Scheffler will play methodical, smart golf and put himself in the right places around Augusta this weekend. The question is: Can either Homa or DeChambeau do it too? So far both have proved they can hang, especially in tough conditions. Both have hit over 72% of greens in regulation this week -- which tops the field.
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