Day two at Augusta National brought another shifting leaderboard as the second round of The Masters 2026 got under way. Several players made early moves, while others fought to stay within touching distance of the leading group in the first major of the season.
Wyndham Clark continued to feature prominently in the early action. He narrowly missed a birdie putt at the sixth that looked destined for the cup before drifting just to the right at the last moment. Even so, he stayed at three under par for both the round and the tournament overall. Clark had already put together a strong run, and his tee shot at the sixth found the heart of the green, leaving him a decent look at another birdie from around 18 feet.
Clark’s streak of consecutive birdies eventually came to an end at five, but his position remained strong as he moved through the course. The opening holes suggested he was still in control of a promising round, even if the putter had just denied him another gain.
Elsewhere, Im Sungjae began to build momentum of his own. The player who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020 birdied both the seventh and eighth holes to move into red figures for the day. That left him at three over par overall, a better position than when the round began and a sign that he was finding some rhythm in the middle of Augusta’s demanding layout.
Freddie Couples also enjoyed a welcome response early in the round. The veteran birdied the second hole to move back to five over par. It was a small but useful recovery after a difficult spell on Thursday, when he suffered a quadruple bogey at 15 followed by double bogeys at 16 and 17. At 66 years old, Couples was still drawing admiration simply for battling through Augusta’s heat and pressure.
Aaron Rai, winner of the Par 3 Contest, started his second round in composed fashion. He found Tea Olive in regulation and rolled a long birdie putt that shaved the hole. Rai stayed at one under par after a first-round 71, a score that hinted at more after he had gone out in 33 on Thursday. His opening to Friday suggested another controlled, measured round rather than one built on risk.
As the second round developed, the field began to show clearer signs of separation. Some of the early contenders were holding steady, while others were trying to recover from mistakes that can quickly alter a Masters week. Augusta National was again demanding precision from tee to green, and even a near-miss could mean the difference between gaining ground and standing still.
With more of the round still to come, attention remained on the players making the sharpest starts. Clark’s steady touch around the greens, Rai’s composed opening, Couples’ veteran resilience and Sungjae’s push into red for the day all added to a lively second morning at the tournament.
The second round at Augusta National was still in its early stages, but the tone was already clear: patience, accuracy and the ability to recover quickly would matter just as much as any early birdies. The Masters remained wide open, with plenty of golf still to be played.
Follow the latest from Augusta National as the day-two action continues.
