Rory McIlroy pulled clear of the chasing pack on the second day of The Masters 2026 at Augusta National, as the tournament began to settle after a lively opening phase.
Elsewhere on the course, Wyndham Clark continued to make a move early in his round before seeing his birdie run come to an end at the sixth. Clark’s birdie putt there looked set to drop, rolling straight before drifting a little to the right at the last moment and staying out. Even so, he remained at three under for both his round and the tournament overall.
Clark was not the only player making positive progress on the day. Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020, birdied the seventh and eighth holes to get into red figures for the round. He stood at three over overall after those gains.
Freddie Couples also found a way to improve his position, birdieing the second hole to move back to five over. The veteran’s week had already included a difficult stretch at 15, 16 and 17 the previous day, when he ran into major trouble with a quadruple bogey followed by consecutive double bogeys. At 66, he was still showing the resilience that has long made him a popular figure at Augusta.
Aaron Rai, winner of the Par 3 Contest, began his second round in composed fashion. He found Tea Olive off the tee and then rolled a long birdie attempt to the edge of the cup. Rai remained at one under after his opening-round 71, a score that had hinted at even more after he went out in 33 on Thursday.
Back with Clark, the American’s sequence of consecutive birdies ended at five, although he still kept things moving with a par at the sixth. From there, he found the centre of the green off the tee and used the slope to send his ball towards the front-left pin position. That left him with a birdie chance from around 18 feet, on a putt that was not completely straight but as close as Augusta tends to allow.
The second round brought a mix of momentum shifts, recovery shots and small mistakes, the kind that can quickly alter the picture at Augusta National. With McIlroy edging away from the field, the attention turned to who might stay close enough to challenge as the day unfolded.
Follow the official leaderboard for the latest positions from Augusta, and keep up with live updates as the second round continues.
