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US Masters 2024: Scottie Scheffler’s Steady Stride in Round Two

Scottie Scheffler was able to approach the second round of the Masters Tournament 2024 with confidence, carrying forward the momentum from his performance in the first round. The previous day saw him navigate Augusta with a bogey-free 66, and despite challenging weather conditions that tested aspects of his game, Scheffler managed to finish the day with an even-par 72.

The Masters 2024: Scheffler faces challenging circumstances

Despite the adverse conditions, Scheffler managed to secure birdies on holes 2, 8, and 10. However, the challenge of Augusta National was evident with bogeys on holes 5, 7, and notably on 13.

Challenges at Amen Corner

The back nine presented more hurdles as the winds picked up, impacting all participants. The infamous Amen Corner brought a slight shift in momentum. Although he managed to save par at the 11th and 12th hole, Scheffler navigated through Amen Corner with a bogey on the 13th, which set back some of his earlier gains.

Scheffler described the conditions as “extremely challenging,” with gusts that seemed to come from every direction, complicating each shot and putt. Notably, on hole 9, a putt that would typically require a straightforward approach was altered significantly by the wind, showcasing the day’s difficulties.

Scottie Scheffler about his round

Scheffler described the day’s playing conditions as extremely challenging, particularly due to high winds affecting every part of the course. He said, ‘Yeah, it was extremely challenging. The winds were up very high, and it blows from everywhere out here. I think even par this afternoon was a really good score.’

When asked about the role of experience on such a difficult day, Scheffler emphasized the importance of course management. “Not really sure. I think for me mostly it was just trying to manage my way around the golf course, and that’s pretty much it. Just trying to make as many pars as you could and trying to leave it in the right spots.” he noted.

Reflecting on the toughest stretches of the course, Scheffler detailed the difficulties faced on holes 13 through 15: “I mean, like 13 for me today was a good example of I hit a good tee shot and hit a really good second shot, and then you just get gusted by the wind, and then stuff like that happens, you make bogeys.”

The golfer also discussed how he copes with the mental and physical toll of long playing days. “Yeah, I try to relax as much as possible out there, but I feel like I teed off 10 hours ago. It was a long day out there,” Scheffler shared.

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The Masters Tournament 2024: Jon Rahm Survives the Cut

For a moment, towards the end of round two, it looked like defending champion Jon Rahm might not make it to the weekend of The Masters Tournament 2024. After coming out of Amen Corner he suffered a double bogey on 14 after his second shot landed somewhere in the patrons and he continued with a three put after the slope of the Augusta greens as well as the wind carried his ball far away from the hole. After that odyssey he looked dangerously close to not making the cut.

The Masters Tournament 2024: Jon Rahm dangerously close to the cutline

But Rahm, who conquered Augusta before, bounced back with two birdies, getting back the shots he lost on 14, giving himself a better outlook on the weekend. A bogey on 17 brought him into a precarious situation again but the cutline shifted, giving him some breathing room with a total score of 5 over par. Rahm signed a 76 on Friday and sits at a tied 44th place on the leaderboard, eleven shits behind the leading trio made up of Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau.

Jon Rahm on making the cut: “a last ditch effort at the end”

Q. Tell us a little bit about your round today.

JON RAHM: It’s a very bad day not to be comfortable with the swing, that’s for sure. Yeah, just fighting it all day, never comfortable. I didn’t give myself a lot of chances, and it was a last ditch effort at the end to try and make the cut. Luckily I was successful in doing so.

Q. Talk about your reaction to those two birdies.

JON RAHM: It’s exactly that, no other choice. Make just too many mistakes when I put myself in good position. To just see one putt go in is nice and then a bonus on 16.

Still managed to stretch myself out to a three-putt on 17. So it’s not easy out there. Got a lot of work to do tomorrow if I want to have a chance on Sunday.

Q. How hard did you get at the end there, Jon?

JON RAHM: Very. A couple times questioning myself why we were out there, especially when I got to 18 and saw the whole front of the green just full of sand. It’s rolling a little bit different. I understand they want us to finish.

I can imagine they were very close to calling it a few times, especially when we were on 11 green and we were getting those massive gusts every couple of minutes or so. It was extremely difficult.

We got it in. Hopefully I can just make up some ground tomorrow.

You just put the ball down, and it’s very close to moving. Not only that, how long did it take us to play? Over six hours to play just because they had to blow the greens in between groups, and then when you get to a group, people stepping back and back in. It’s just, again, borderline.

It was very, very close. It’s about as hard a golf course as I’ve seen in a very long time.

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The Masters Tournament 2024: Rory McIlroy Struggles Against the Wind and Augusta

Rory McIlroy kept struggeling on day 2 at The Masters Tournament 2024. But in the windy conditions he was not the only one, with only eight players posting a round under par. Yet a round of 77 to follow his first round of 71 shots positions McIlroy only in the middle of the field on T35. Ten shots behind the leaders it doesn’t look likely that he will be able to fulfill his dream of a career grand slam, but McIlroy is well able to perform some golf magic.

Rory McIlroy having a hard time in round 2 of The Masters Tournament 2024

He couldn’t find that magic on Friday though with a birdie free round. Two bogeys on 5 and 7 marked an already difficult start to his round that only got worse when he entered Amen Corner. On hole 11 McIlroy’s second vanished into Rae’s Creek. And even though he brought his fourth shot seven feet to the hole a gave himself a chance to save a bogey, his ball rolled over the corner of the hole, causing a double bogey for the Northern Irishman. He got unscathed through 12 and 13 but lost another shot on 14. After that he made it without further lost shots to the clubhouse.

Rory McIlroy on his second round at The Masters Tournament: “Really Tough Day”

Q. Rory, can you give us your thoughts on the round and the conditions today.

RORY MCILROY: Tough day, really tough day. Just hard to make a score and just sort of trying to make as many pars as possible. I felt like I did okay. I made that bogey on 14, and even just to par the last four holes and get in the clubhouse and have a tee time tomorrow, I’m sort of pretty happy with.

Yeah, just a really tough day. Scoring was very difficult. Yeah, just one of those days that couldn’t — I mean, most of the field couldn’t really get anything going. It was just a matter of trying to hang in there as best you could.

Q. Could you give us your thoughts on just how long your round took today.

RORY MCILROY: It felt long, yeah. My golf swing felt horrific for the last six or seven holes, just from hitting around. Especially that 11th hole, 11 it felt like it took an hour to play that hole.

Yeah, it was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well.

Q. Rory, how much of a battle is it between your mental and your physical game when it’s so slow, when it’s so windy? There’s so many second callings of shots. What is that part of the test like?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it’s hard. Mentally it’s a grind because you just have to try to commit as best you can to the shot that you’re trying to play. One second you’ll have a shot that’s playing 150, and then if the wind does something different, the shot could be playing 180. It could be a 30-yard difference.

Just really hard to — you have to commit to trying to play the right shot, but then you also have to hit it at the right time as well. So pretty tricky.

Q. You’ve done 10 shots back in your career, Wells Fargo, it was a long time ago. I think you were 11 back with a whole round to go in 2022 and you finished second, gave it a run. Do you think there’s still a run from 10 back?

RORY MCILROY: I think so. I won from 10 back in Dubai at the start of the year. But obviously the Dubai Desert Classic and the Masters are two very different golf tournaments.

We’ll see. Hopefully the conditions are a little better tomorrow. Yeah, I still think I can go out tomorrow and shoot a low one, get back into red numbers, and have half a chance going into Sunday.

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The Masters Tournament 2024 – Rules: Wind Moves Ball on Green

The wind made the second round of the Masters Tournament 2024 a real challenge. Leaves and pine needles were blown across the course and in some cases even the sand was blown out of the bunkers. But at least all the trees were still standing, unlike last year.

The Masters Tournament 2024: Wind moves the ball

The wind still had an impact on the game, however, with players repeatedly cancelling their shot attempts because the wind suddenly changed. However, it was particularly tricky for Gary Woodland. He was just about to putt on 16 when his ball suddenly developed a life of its own. The wind caused the ball to move on its own and roll across the green.

Gary Woodland’s ball just blew 40 feet away on 16 at the Masters!?pic.twitter.com/pdr5C5AMDJ — Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) April 12, 2024

What is to be done in such a case according to the Rules of Golf?

Rule 9.3 states: “If natural forces (such as wind or water) cause a player’s ball at rest to move there is no penalty, and the ball must be played from its new spot.”

But fortunately for Woodland, for whom this meant the difference between a putt from seven feet or a monster putt, there is an exception: “If the player’s ball on the putting green moves after the player had already lifted and replaced the ball on the spot from which it moved the ball must be replaced on its original spot.”

Even if the ball was unmarked at the time it started to move, this exception applied because Woodland had already marked and picked it up. This means that Woodland had to estimate where the ball had been and was allowed to play it from there.

He made the par on the 16th, but it couldn’t save him the cut. Woodland played a round of 81 and was seven strokes over par on the back nine alone.

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The Masters Tournament 2024: Bryson DeChambeau or Jesus?

Bryson DeChambeau provided the most unusual image of the second day of the Masters Tournament 2024 when he suddenly carried one of the Augusta National Golf Club signposts over his shoulder. On hole 13, his tee shot had strayed into the trees. DeChambeau had to get the ball out of this awkward position, but one of the signposts guiding the patrons around the course was in his way. DeChambeau took matters into his own hand, put the signpost over his shoulder and moved it out of the way.

Bryson DeChambeau triggers Masters Tournament Meme

The social media reactions to this unusual sight were immediate. The most obvious association for many was Jesus carrying his cross.

“Augusta Jesus” was quickly read on the X platform (formerly Twitter). A “Messiah complex” was also attributed to DeChambeau or that he makes “birdies for our sins”. “Reuniting the game of golf is his cross to bear,” was another user wrote. The joke extended to even more complex “Bible quotes”:

Bryson DeChambeau probably won’t care about all that. He put his third shot on the green and made birdie. Mission accomplished.

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The Masters Tournament 2024: Tiger Woods Secures Cut Record at Augusta

On the second day of The Masters Tournament 2024, Tiger Woods added another impressive record to his CV. Thanks to a solid round of 72, the five-time Masters winner secured the cut, which is expected to be +4. Woods thus made the cut at Augusta for the 24th time in a row and is now the sole record holder.

The Masters Tournament 2024: Tiger Woods with 24 made cuts in a row

The second day of The Masters Tournament 2024 was a tough one for Tiger Woods: after his first round was interrupted after 13 holes due to the onset of darkness, the five-time Masters winner was forced to play 23 holes on Friday. Woods, who has been struggling with pain throughout, visibly lost his rhythm at the start of the second day and recorded two bogeys on the last five holes at the end of his first round. With a round of 73 behind him, the 48-year-old went into round two accordingly. This was an up-and-down affair for Woods, with four bogeys and four birdies, he ultimately posted a strong round of 72 to secure the cut at this year’s Masters.

Until this moment, Tiger Woods shared the record for the most cuts made at the US Masters with the two other golf legends Gary Player and Fred Couples. However, with his 24th cut in a row, Woods overtook them and is now the sole record holder. The visibly exhausted 48-year-old left the course for the clubhouse to rapturous applause and showed his will to win: “It means I have a chance going into the weekend. I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament. I don’t know if they’re all going to finish today, but I’m done. I got my two rounds in. Just need some food and some caffeine, and I’ll be good to go.”

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The Masters Tournament 2024: Horror Round Catapults Pro to the Bottom of the Leaderboard

The second round of The Masters Tournament 2024 turned out to be a bad day for Emiliano Grillo. After a round of 76 the day before, the Argentinian was under a lot of pressure on day two and was unable to withstand it. With a round of 83 (+11), Grillo finished Friday with the worst round of the tournament so far and found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard.

The Masters Tournament 2024: Emiliano Grillo with four double bogeys

With a double bogey on the first hole, Emiliano Grillo set an early course for the weakest tournament round so far at The Masters Tournament 2024. The pros also had to contend with strong winds on the second day, which clearly made things difficult for Grillo. With two bogeys and a birdie the Argentinian went on to the last three holes of the front nine, where he recorded two more double bogeys. Grillo was therefore already seven strokes over par at the halfway point of his second tournament round in Augusta. The next double bogey promptly followed on the back nine at the eleventh hole. Grillo followed this up with a bogey and a birdie before the Argentinian completed his horror round with two bogeys on the last two holes.

Emiliano Grillo’s Scorecard at The Masters Tournament 2024.

After a round of 76 on day one and a somewhat impressive 83 on the second day of the tournament, Emiliano Grillo has no hope of playing at the weekend. The Argentinian is currently in last place on the leaderboard (+15) and will therefore clearly miss the cut. The Argentinian recorded his best finish at a Masters in 2016 with T17. Incidentally, the highest score ever achieved at a Masters tournament is a 95 by Charles Kunkle in the final round in 1956. Particularly in view of the difficult weather conditions, Emiliano Grillo is therefore well worthy of leniency.

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The Masters Tournament 2024: Drama On 15th Hole For Spieth

It took more than a day, but now the incredibly fast greens of Augusta National have claimed their first prominent victim. Jordan Spieth despaired on the green of the 15th fairway on the second day of the Masters Tournament 2024, but after the first round was interrupted by the onset of darkness in round 1. “Firethorn”, as the par 5 was so aptly named, showed its particularly beastly side for the veteran and gave Spieth a quadruple bogey.

Jordan Spieth with dramatic quadruple bogey at the Masters Tournament 2024

Even before the start of the Masters Tournament 2024, Ken Brown reported on the difficult and particularly fast greens at Augusta National this week. Not even a complete round of golf later, Jordan Spieth had to painfully familiarise himself with these qualities. After an approach shot to the green on the 15th fairway that was too long, he hit what should have been a simple chip back onto the green. However, what should have been a safe shot failed and rolled straight back into the water on the other side of the green as if on a pane of glass. It went back into the drop zone and after another pitch that was too long, again behind the flag, Spieth opted for a much more defensive chip. This was followed by two putts and finally the nine on the scorecard.

Jordan Spieth in despair on hole 15 at the US Masters 2024 (Photo: Masters.com)

The shot tracker for this hole by Spieth is not very reminiscent of the American’s otherwise precise short game, but rather of a child’s drawing with a few abstract stick figures. Thanks to this track, Spieth is likely to face an even greater challenge in round 2. Without much of a break, the Friday session continues and with it the battle for the cut. At seven over par, he is currently well outside the decisive positions and has to fight to stay in the tournament.

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US Masters 2024: Scottie Scheffler and The Secret to Winning Majors

Quite a few people believe that this 88th Masters has already been decided after the world number one made a captivating start on a difficult afternoon with unpredictable gusts of wind and conjured up a bogey-free 66 (-6) on the green. Thanks to his two victories and a second place before the first major of the year, Scottie Scheffler was already the heavy favourite at Augusta National Golf Club; the odds have been completely even since yesterday. The 27-year-old is not even in the lead.

The Only Way to Masters Success is Through Scottie Scheffler

And it’s not as if he didn’t have any problems yesterday either. Scheffler had to get out of difficult positions several times, especially in Amen Corner, and still managed to reach 13 greens in regulation thanks to his outstanding shotmaking. “Scottie is just incredibly efficient,” said playing partner Rory McIlroy after his own round of 71: “His ability to avoid bogeys is the secret to winning majors and major golf tournaments.” There are still 54 holes to play and disaster lurks around every bend at Augusta: But it is already clear that the only way to the Green Jacket is through Scottie Scheffler. And he also has a beard again.


By Michael Basche

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Tiger Woods: “One Of the Most Tricky Days That I’ve Ever Been a Part Of”

Tiger Woods has not finished a single golf tournament so far this year. This is set to change at The Masters, where he could finally conquer the record for the most cuts made by (among others) Gary Player. Woods had to finish his first round in Augusta after 13 holes as there was not enough daylight for everyone due to the rain break in the morning.

At one under par, the 48-year-old is very solidly in contention. Of course, it remains to be seen what his body is capable of. After the first round at The Masters, Woods explained how difficult the conditions were on the very windy Thursday in Augusta and what condition he was in.

Tiger Woods on Round 1 at The Masters 2024

Question: My understanding is that this was the second time in your career that you opened with a birdie on 1 and followed it up with a par. Did that get you settled?

TIGER WOODS: I don’t remember the other time, to be honest with you. Yeah, I hit a nice 3-wood off of 1, hit a nice little 8-iron in there about 10, 12 feet and made the putt. Then quickly hit the next one almost in a hazard, played lefty, got out there, and boy, I hit a nice pitch from over the green. That was nice.

Question: How were the conditions out there? Can you talk a little bit about it?

TIGER WOODS: The wind was all over the place. It was one of the most tricky days that I’ve ever been a part of. It was hard to get a beat not only on what direction it was going, but the intensity, and it kept switching all over the place, and then you had to — the timing was affecting putts on the greens. It was a very difficult day.

Question: How do you feel about starting tomorrow on 14?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it was nice to finish up 13. We’re going to warm up and just kind of head down there and start our round, and I think the flow would be pretty much almost like between 20 and 30 minutes in between rounds, so it’ll be a natural flow from the finish of the first round and continuation of the second.

Question: Body, how is it feeling?

TIGER WOODS: It’s there. The body is okay. We’ve got some work to do yet tonight.