Published July 17, 2008 on April 7, 2018

Reed Rocks Augusta While Stenson and McIlroy in contention

---

Patrick Reed of US has put himself in a position to make history at the 82^nd Masters on day two at a sun-kissed Augusta National. On a day when most players were struggling, the 27-year-old hero of the USA’s 2016 Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine made nine birdies, shooting 6-under 66, capturing the 36-hole lead at 9-under 135. He leads Australia’s Marc Leishman (70-67) by two strokes.

The 27-year-old hero of the USA’s 2016 Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine was on fire on day two at a sun-kissed Augusta National, opening with three successive birdies and carrying that momentum the whole way through to finish the day on a nine under par total.

Reed said, “I think the biggest highlight was getting off to the start I did. Hitting three‑wood off the first, it’s a hole I’ve always loved to hit driver but I’ve always gotten myself in trouble for it.

“My wife always tells me it’s a three‑wood, hit three‑wood. Finally, I’ve listened to her. I’ve hit three‑wood both days, just played down the middle of the fairway, and that front left flag, it’s such a hard flag to get close to.  I was able to kind of hit wedge just to the right of it and probably about 15, 18 feet.

“I think that was kind of the crucial point, to make a putt like that where it’s double‑breaking and so speed sensitive, so I just kind of got my round started and just got that confidence and that step that I needed going into the day. Especially being last tee time off and seeing how the guys are struggling out there and not really a lot of low scores early, guys seemed to be making bogeys, one‑over, even, one‑under here and there.

“To be able to get a birdie out early, especially on the first and knowing you’re going into a par five and that if you hit it into the fairway, you’re going to have a chance to go for it in two, just allowed the day to start out on the right foot.

“Everyone wants to win, and if you don’t believe you can win them, then you probably shouldn’t be playing. I believe that if I play the golf that I know how to play, that I can win majors. And it’s just one of those things – I have to go in and not get ahead of myself and go into tomorrow and just take it shot by shot, hole‑by‑hole, like I’ve been doing.”

Leishman who was drawn with four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods will be playing with Reed on the Saturday final pairing. Interestingly, five of the last six pairings feature at least one major champion including Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, each at 4-under, as well as World Nos. 1 and 2, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, both of whom got back into the fray on Friday with their scores of 68 and 67, respectively.

Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy will be among the numerous superstars chasing down leader Patrick Reed.  Swedish former Open champion Stenson was two shots further back after adding a two under 70 to his first round 69, while Grand Slam-chasing McIlroy was joined in a share of fourth place by fellow multiple Major champion Jordan Spieth.

“My game feels okay. I played really well on the back nine, especially I made three really good pars on ten, 11 and 12 and then I had chances all the way in. I’m a little frustrated that I’m not in the clubhouse at say, six or seven under, I missed two really good chances coming in. It was a tricky day. Anything under par was pretty good but I feel like I left a couple out there,” said McIlroy.

“The wind is maybe five miles an hour more than it was yesterday but it’s just enough to make it very tricky. I thought the pin positions today were a little tougher than they were yesterday so it was tough to get it close to some of the holes, especially on the tougher holes. You’ve got to stay patient around here.

“If you can not give any shots away with your short-range putting from inside six-feet – and there are some six-footers out here that you have to give it two feet of break – so they are pretty difficult. If you hole some 15 or 20-footers that’s a bonus.”

Tiger Woods who struggled with his irons shot a 3-over 75 and made his first major cut since the 2015 PGA Championship. He is 13-shots behind Reed. Phil Mickelson, three-time champion also struggled and just managed to make it to the weekend on the number. Defending champion Sergio Garcia shots rounds of 81-78 to miss the cut only for the second time since 2008.

With heavy rain set to fall on the idyllic Georgia venue on Saturday, it is set to be an eventful moving day and a thrilling weekend in the year’s first Major Championship.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat came back strong with a two-under 70 second round for total 149 just making the cut right on the mark. The big Thai needs to finish a solo 40^thor better to obtain a special temporary membership on the PGA TOUR.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma’s campaign at the Masters ended after his two-day 77-74 for total 151 score.

Scores after round two:

135 P Reed (USA) 69 66,
137 M Leishman (Aus) 70 67,
139 H Stenson (Swe) 69 70,
140 J Spieth (USA) 66 74, R McIlroy (Nir) 69 71,
141 D Johnson (USA) 73 68, J Thomas (USA) 74 67,
142 B Watson (USA) 73 69, C Hoffman (USA) 69 73, T Finau (USA) 68 74, R Fowler (USA) 70 72, J Rose (Eng) 72 70, L Oosthuizen (RSA) 71 71,
143 B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 73, J Rahm (Esp) 75 68, M Kuchar (USA) 68 75, C Smith (Aus) 71 72,
144 T Fleetwood (Eng) 72 72, H Matsuyama (Jpn) 73 71, Z Johnson (USA) 70 74, J Walker (USA) 73 71, A Hadwin (Can) 69 75,
145 V Singh (Fij) 71 74, R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 69 76, H Li (Chn) 69 76, R Henley (USA) 73 72, S Kodaira (Jpn) 71 74,
146 J Vegas (Ven) 77 69, B Grace (RSA) 73 73, R Moore (USA) 74 72, F Couples (USA) 72 74, K Stanley (USA) 72 74, J Day (Aus) 75 71, F Molinari (Ita) 72 74,
147 M Kaymer (Ger) 74 73, D Berger (USA) 73 74, C Reavie (USA) 76 71, B Harman (USA) 73 74, K Kisner (USA) 72 75,
148 T Woods (USA) 73 75, B Dechambeau (USA) 74 74, A Scott (Aus) 75 73, S Kim (Kor) 75 73, B Langer (Ger) 74 74, D Ghim (am) (USA) 72 76,
149 P Mickelson (USA) 70 79, T Hatton (Eng) 74 75, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 79 70, X Schauffele (USA) 71 78, P Casey (Eng) 74 75, W Simpson (USA) 76 73, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 75 74, I Poulter (Eng) 74 75,

CUT

150 J Dufner (USA) 73 77, S Lyle (Sco) 74 76, J Olazábal (Esp) 74 76, C Schwartzel (RSA) 72 78,
151 B Steele (USA) 76 75, T Pieters (Bel) 73 78, D Frittelli (RSA) 77 74, S Sharma (Ind) 77 74, P Cantlay (USA) 75 76, D Willett (Eng) 75 76, T Potter Jnr (USA) 73 78,
152 P Perez (USA) 73 79, W Bryan (USA) 74 78, P Kizzire (USA) 76 76, R Fisher (Eng) 78 74,
153 K Chappell (USA) 77 76, A Noren (Swe) 74 79, T Immelman (RSA) 78 75, Y Ikeda (Jpn) 76 77, J Niemann (am) (Chi) 76 77, D Redman (am) (USA) 76 77,
154 Y Miyazato (Jpn) 77 77, G Woodland (USA) 78 76, A Cook (USA) 74 80,
155 B Horschel (USA) 76 79, I Woosnam (Wal) 79 76, M Weir (Can) 76 79,
156 L Mize (USA) 76 80,
159 A Cabrera (Arg) 76 83, M O’Meara (USA) 78 81, S Garcia (Esp) 81 78, Y Lin (am) (Chn) 79 80,
160 M Parziale (am) (USA) 81 79,
166 H Ellis (am) (Eng) 86 80,