The second round of the Masters continued at Augusta National with Rory McIlroy among the headline names beginning their day as the leaderboard started to take shape. On a day when the conditions and the course continued to demand precision, several players made early progress while others tried to keep their momentum going after strong opening rounds.
Wyndham Clark remained in the mix after a run of birdies that had pushed him forward earlier in the day. At the sixth, he rolled in a birdie putt that looked set to drop before drifting just to the right at the last moment, leaving him at three under par for the tournament and for the round. Even so, he stayed among the early pacesetters as Augusta continued to reward aggressive play in the right places.
Clark was not the only player finding red figures on the card. Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020, picked up birdies at the seventh and eighth holes to move into positive territory for the day. He stood at three over overall after those gains. Freddie Couples also briefly improved his position with a birdie at the second hole, taking him back to five over. After a difficult finish to the previous day, when he ran into serious trouble with a quadruple bogey, followed by two double bogeys, the 66-year-old received some relief early in round two.
The Par 3 Contest winner Aaron Rai began his second round in composed fashion. He found Tea Olive in regulation and then sent a long birdie attempt skimming the hole. Rai remained one under par after his opening-round 71, a score that had suggested even more was possible after a strong start of 33 on the front nine.
Clark’s earlier surge eventually slowed when his run of consecutive birdies ended at five. The sixth hole still offered another chance, however, as his tee shot found the middle of the green and used the slope to move toward a front-left pin position. That left him with a look at birdie from around 18 feet, on a putt that was not perfectly flat but still looked makeable on a course where very few putts are truly straightforward.
As the second round unfolded, attention remained on the larger story of the leaderboard. Augusta National again proved to be a venue where small mistakes could quickly alter a player’s position, while short bursts of scoring had the power to lift several contenders into contention. Rose and Hatton were among those expected to keep climbing as the day went on, adding to the sense that the tournament was beginning to separate into challengers and those merely trying to stay within range.
The Masters was only at its halfway point, but Friday already had the look of a classic Augusta test: patient, punishing and capable of rewarding anyone who could string together a few composed holes. With McIlroy getting under way and several others making early gains, the second round promised more movement before the day was done.
More updates were expected as play continued.
