Rory McIlroy strengthened his position at The Masters 2026 on Friday, opening up a six-shot lead over the chasing pack as the second round unfolded at Augusta National. The defending champion continued to set the pace while others around him tried to hang on in increasingly difficult conditions.
Behind McIlroy, the leaderboard remained busy with several players producing contrasting fortunes across the course. Wyndham Clark, who had looked set to make a move, saw his birdie attempt at the sixth just slide away from the hole after tracking promisingly toward the cup. The putt drifted slightly right at the last moment, leaving him at three under for both the round and the tournament.
Clark was not the only player making noise early in the day. Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut at the November Masters of 2020, birdied the seventh and eighth holes to move under par for the round. He stood at three over overall after those gains. Freddie Couples, meanwhile, showed the sort of persistence that has long made him a popular figure at Augusta. He birdied the second to move to five over, offering a small correction after a damaging stretch on Thursday.
Couples had paid a steep price for a difficult run at 15, 16 and 17 in the opening round, where he made a quadruple bogey, followed by two double bogeys. At 66 years old, he had simply run out of energy in the late-afternoon heat, but his early birdie on Friday at least brought some relief after a punishing finish the previous day.
Aaron Rai, the Par 3 Contest winner, began his second round in composed fashion. He found Tea Olive in regulation and rolled a long birdie putt close to the hole. After an opening-round 71, he remained one under par overall, still in a position to build on a score that had hinted at more after he had gone out in 33 on Thursday.
Clark, too, continued to look dangerous even after his earlier birdie run ended. His sequence of five consecutive birdies came to a halt at the sixth, where he settled for par. He then found the centre of the green at the next hole, using the slope well to bring the ball toward a tucked front-left flag. That left him with another makeable birdie chance from around 18 feet, on a putt that was not perfectly straight but still offered a realistic opportunity to keep pressure on the leaders.
Augusta continues to reward precision
The second round at Augusta once again underlined how quickly momentum can shift on this course. A near miss can halt progress just as fast as a birdie can build it. Players who started with promise were forced to be patient, while others used steady golf to stay within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard.
For McIlroy, the task now is to protect a sizeable lead against a field that has not yet stopped producing notable moments. For those chasing him, the challenge is clear: make birdies, avoid disaster, and hope Augusta gives back more than it takes.
With the official leaderboard continuing to change and the second round still in progress, the picture at the top of the tournament remained fluid. But the headline from Augusta was clear enough: McIlroy had taken control, and the rest of the field was left trying to catch up.
