The second round of The Masters 2026 continued at Augusta National with Rory McIlroy pulling clear of the chasing pack as the day progressed. Behind him, several notable names were trying to stay in touch, including Wyndham Clark, Aaron Rai, Im Sungjae and Freddie Couples.
Wyndham Clark enjoyed a strong stretch on the front nine, with a birdie putt at the 6th appearing destined to drop before drifting just right at the last moment. Even so, he remained at three under for both the round and the tournament. Clark’s run of five straight birdies eventually came to an end, but he continued to give himself chances. At the 6th, he found the middle of the green from the tee and used the contours to send the ball toward the flag before setting up a birdie look from around 18 feet.
Clark was not the only player making progress in red figures for the round. Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut at the November Masters of 2020, birdied both the 7th and 8th holes to move into credit for the day. That left him at three over overall. The veteran Freddie Couples also added a birdie at the 2nd to climb back to five over after a difficult passage the previous day.
Couples’ position on the leaderboard came despite a bruising sequence late on day one, when he stumbled through the 15th, 16th and 17th holes with a quadruple bogey followed by two double bogeys. At 66, he was able to be forgiven for running out of energy in the heat of the late-afternoon sun, but the damage to his score was severe.
Around Augusta, the Par 3 Contest winner Aaron Rai made a composed start to his second round. He found Tea Olive in regulation and then watched a long birdie putt skim past the hole. Rai remained at one under after his opening 71, a round that had promised more after he turned in 33.
As the second round developed, the leaderboard began to take shape behind McIlroy, who had separated himself from the field. Clark stayed in the hunt at three under, while Rai continued to hold steady and Sungjae and Couples looked to recover further ground. The early stages of the day showed how quickly momentum can shift at Augusta National, with birdies, missed chances and difficult stretches all influencing the standings.
The Masters remained finely poised, but McIlroy’s move clear of the field gave the tournament an increasingly familiar shape: one player out front, and a group of challengers trying to avoid losing touch as the pressure at Augusta continued to build.
Latest from Augusta: MacIntyre faces reprimand.
Official leaderboard: Follow the tournament standings as the action continues.
