Masters Friday had more story lines than azalea blooms and more red numbers than a Bernie Madoff balance sheet. Young guns without fear, crafty old pros at their flinty best, top-ten ranked players returning to relevance, or shockingly missing the cut, and some guy named Eldrick going low and ending the day in a tie for third.
Tiger Woods actually flirted with the cut line (+1, tied for the lowest in Masters history) for most of the front nine, walking to the eighth tee at even par for the tournament and one over for the day after bogeying the seventh. He then reeled off birdies at eight, nine and ten. After pushing his drive 20 yards to the right of the fairway and playing his approach 30 feet past the hole, a poor first putt left a 10 foot downhill knee knocker for par on the eleventh. You could almost sense that Tiger was going to follow his normal modus operandi of late and make a mess of the hole, killing his momentum. Instead, he coolly poured it in like the big cat of old, fist pumped and walked to the next tee. A par at twelve was followed by birdies at thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. He stiffed his tee shot on the par three sixteenth and missed a make-able birdie putt, played a nifty chip from over the seventeenth green to save par and pushed his drive on the eighteenth into the first cut. From a fluffy lie, obstructed by the trees, he hit a 30 yard slice to eight feet and canned the birdie putt to hang a smooth six-under 66 on the board, good for a tie for third at seven under, just three back of the lead.
That lead spot is still occupied by first round leader Rory McIlroy after the curly coiffed son of Eire toured the course in a demon exorcising three under 69 to go with his opening day 65. When last seen leading a major championship after the first day, McIlroy played the second round of the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews like he had the ghost of Old Tom Morris standing on his neck, turning in a wind blown 80. His only hiccup on Friday was a bogey at the difficult twelfth, offset by birdies at the second, fifth, ninth and thirteenth.
Australian Jason Day, McIlroy's playing partner and the old man of the group at 23 years of age, turned in the low score of the day, an eight under 64 that vaulted him in to solo second place and a spot with McIlroy in Saturday's final group. The youth movement at the 75th Masters was also well served by the third member of that group, Ricky Fowler, who matched McIlroy's 69 with a six-birdie, three bogey performance.
Then we have one Frederick Steven Couples. Freddie, who has back braces as old as McIlroy, fired an ageless 68 to get into the heard of players at five under and claim the spot for low Champions Tour member. Couples qualifies for the biggest high-wire act in this year's tournament, gutting his rounds out on savvy and pain killers. The way he moves when he's not making that familiar, graceful swing makes you wonder if he might not bend over to pick a ball out of the cup and fail to straighten back up. His performance on Saturday and Sunday will be perhaps the most compelling story line in a championship with more possibilities than the mind can comfortably encompass.
Take Lee Westwood who, in related news, fired a five under 67 to regain relevance after a so-so opening day even par 72. Such was the surfeit of story lines that the world number two played himself back into the tournament and almost no one noticed, judging by the amount of play his round received in the media. Westwood carded four birdies and an eagle to offset one bogey and never seemed to make a putt of longer than eight feet, excepting the gorgeous 30 foot breaker he rolled in to the heart of the cup on fifteen for eagle. In fact, that putt was one of the two or three times Westwood appeared on the television coverage all day, tape delayed, of course.
Other lurkers include Geoff Ogilvy, who has very quietly fired back to back scores of 69 and stands tied for fifth with K.J. Choi at six under. Choi will be paired with Woods in the penultimate group on Saturday. Woods and Choi, incidentally, were grouped together for all four days in last year's Masters.
Surprises and story lines were abundant on the opposite end of the scoring spectrum as well. World number one Martin Kaymer, fifth ranked Graeme McDowell and Retief Goosen, who was the on-course tournament leader for much of his Friday round after a first hole eagle, all missed the cut along with Anthony Kim, Zach Johnson, Padraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen, Stuart Cink and Lucas Glover, to name a few. One amateur made the weekend, with 2010 Asian Amateur champion Hideki Matsuyama making the cut on the number.
Prognostications abound as to what the weekend will bring and the possibilities are many and varied. As for me, I'm just going to turn on the tube and soak in the Saturday round. Come what may, it's going to be fun to watch and even more fun to write about afterwards.
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