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Age-Defying Couples Shares Masters Lead
Garcia Unsure of Masters Destiny
Day Withdraws From Masters due to Injury
Oosthuizen Finally Makes cut at Augusta National
McIlroy Makes a Move as Masters Drama Heats up
Age-Defying Couples Shares Masters Lead
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Fred Couples, trying to become the oldest champion in major golf history at age 52, fired a five-under par 67 on Friday to share the lead after the second round of the 76th Masters.
But World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and two stars without a major title, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, were among those only one stroke off the pace as 18 players stood within three shots of the leaders at Augusta National Golf Club.
Couples, who won his only major title 20 years ago at the Masters, stood atop the leaderboard alongside fellow American Jason Dufner, last year's PGA Championship runner-up, at five-under par 139 for 36 holes.
"It was a very, very magical day," Couples said. "I'm going to be right there with everybody on the weekend."
Reigning US Open champion McIlroy of Northern Ireland, World No. 3 Westwood of England, 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Spain's Garcia and American Bubba Watson shared third on 140.
"I can't pay much attention to them. I've got to worry about my own game," Couples said. "If I come out here and play my game the best I can, I'll have a shot."
The oldest champion in major golf history was Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship. The oldest winner in Masters history was Jack Nicklaus, who won his 18th and final major crown at age 46 at the 1986 Masters.
Couples, who won two weeks ago on the 50-and-over Champions Tour, is the oldest player to lead the Masters after 36 holes, three years older than Lee Trevino when he set the old mark in 1989.
"It's a little bizarre," Couples said of his name atop the leaderboard.
Couples, playing in his 28th Masters, led after the first round in 2010 and settled for sixth.
Couples made bogeys at the first and third, birdied the par-3 fourth only to bogey the par-3 sixth, closed the front nine with three birdies in a row and closed the day with birdies at the par-5 15th, par-3 16th and par-4 18th.
"I feel like I'm very competitive," Couples said. "This is my favorite place in the world to play. I know every inch of the course. If you have that, you're going to save shots."
Frustrated Tiger Woods, the 14-time major winner whose victory two weeks ago snapped a 28-month win drought, made five bogeys, three of them on Augusta's four par-3s, and pars on all four par-5s in firing a 75 to share 40th on 147.
"If I clean those up I'm under par," Woods said of the par-3s and par-5s.
Showing no sign of his peak form, Woods was eight adrift in a share of 40th after matching his third-worst round in 68 Masters rounds.
"I just need to play a good solid round tomorrow, cut that deficit down and get off to a good start in the final round," Woods said.
England's World No. 1 Luke Donald fired a 73 to stand on 148, one under the cut line that claimed Japan's Ryo Ishikawa. A total of 63 players made the cut, one off the record from 1966 and the most since 63 in 1992 when Couples won.
Dufner, who stumbled in the final holes at the PGA and lost a playoff, birdied three of four holes starting at the par-5 13th before a closing bogey.
"I had some really nice rounds at PGA. Didn't quite work but carried over," Dufner said. "It gave me confidence that I can compete and play at a high level."
Dufner is trying to recover from throwing away a major only to win the next as McIlroy did after a Masters nightmare last year ahead of his US Open title. McIlroy fired a 69 on Friday, including a 40-footer for birdie at the fourth.
"I drove the ball a lot better which was the key for me," McIlroy said. "I was able to attack the pins a lot more. I just felt a lot more comfortable and could be more aggressive."
McIlroy, who was two when Couples won the Masters, likes where he stands.
"I'm right where I want to be," he said. "I put myself in position to have a chance to win this tournament again."
Westwood, in the top three in five of his past nine Majors, double bogeyed the 18th hole to squander the lead, taking a 73 after leading on day one with a 67. He missed putts of eight and four feet at 18.
"Double at the last was a disappointing way to finish," Westwood said. "I'm in a good position. I'm not far off the lead going into the weekend. I'm right where I want to be. I get a few breaks and I will be right in there."
Garcia, 32, birdied four of the first eight holes then had two birdies and two bogeys coming home, saying, "I left a couple shots out there."
Oosthuizen's wild 72 had a double-bogey at two, bogeys at four and five and birdies on three of the last five holes a day after he birdied four of the final five.
Three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson, who shares 12th on 142 after a 68, warned the undulating greens could get tougher in dry weekend weather.
"They are not Augusta-esque. If they become Augusta-esque on the weekend, it's going to be exciting," he said. "If not, there could be 20 players bunched together. It's going to be up to the conditions to separate some players."
Masters Second Round Scores
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Collated scores on Friday during the second round of the 76th Masters golf tournament at par-72 Augusta National Golf Club:
139 - Jason Dufner (USA) 69-70, Fred Couples (USA) 72-67
140 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 68-72, Lee Westwood (ENG) 67-73, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 72-68, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-69, Bubba Watson (USA) 69-71
141 - Paul Lawrie (SCO) 69-72, Matt Kuchar (USA) 71-70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 69-72
142 - Ben Crane (USA) 69-73, Charles Howell (USA) 72-70, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 70-72, Phil Mickelson (USA) 74-68, Peter Hanson (SWE) 68-74, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 71-71, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 71-71, Nick Watney (USA) 71-71
143 - Sean O'Hair (USA) 73-70, Jonathan Byrd (USA) 72-71, Jim Furyk (USA) 70-73, Yang Yong-Eun (KOR) 73-70, Gary Woodland (USA) 73-70
144 - Zach Johnson (USA) 70-74 Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-72, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 76-68, Hunter Mahan (USA) 72-72, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-73, Justin Rose (ENG) 72-72, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69-75
145 - Adam Scott (AUS) 75-70, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-74
146 - Kevin Na (USA) 71-75, Webb Simpson (USA) 72-74, David Toms (USA) 73-73, Stewart Cink (USA) 71-75, Bill Haas (USA) 72-74, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 74-72, Bae Sang-Moon (KOR) 75-71
147 - Kevin Chappell (USA) 71-76, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 75-72, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 72-75, Scott Stallings (USA) 70-77, Martin Kaymer (GER) 72-75, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 72-75, Tiger Woods (USA) 72-75
148 - Martin Laird (SCO) 76-72, Scott Verplank (USA) 73-75, Anders Hansen (DEN) 76-72, Ross Fisher (ENG) 71-77, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 74-74, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 73-75, Steve Stricker (USA) 71-77, Rickie Fowler (USA) 74-74, Keegan Bradley (USA) 71-77, Luke Donald (ENG) 75-73
149 - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 74-75, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 75-74, Patrick Cantlay (USA) 71-78, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 73-76, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 71-78 Kelly Kraft (USA) 74-75
Missed the cut
150 - John Senden (AUS) 74-76, Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR), 74-76 Trevor Immelman (RSA)
151 - Paul Casey (ENG) 76-75, Mike Weir (CAN) 72-69, Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 75-76, Larry Mize (USA) 76-75, Harrison Frazar (USA) 73-78, Kyle Stanley (USA) 75-76, Tom Watson (USA) 77-74
152 - Bernhard Langer (GER) 72-80, Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 72-80, Robert Garrigus (USA) 77-75, Ryan Palmer (USA) 75-77
153 - Chez Reavie (USA) 79-74, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 76-77, K.J. Choi (KOR) 77-76, Bryden Macpherson (AUS) 77-76, Johnson Wagner (USA) 79-74
154 - Ian Woosnam (WAL) 77-77, Mark Wilson (USA) 76-78, Darren Clarke (NIR) 73-81, Tim Clark (RSA) 73-81, Lucas Glover (USA) 75-79
155 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 78-77, Corbin Mills (USA) 74-81, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 78-77
156 - Brendan Steele (USA) 76-80
159 - Randal Lewis (USA) 81-78, Ben Crenshaw (USA) 76-83
163 - Craig Stadler (USA) 81-82
164 - Sandy Lyle (SCO) 86-78
WD - Jason Day (AUS)
Garcia Unsure of Masters Destiny
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Sergio Garcia shot himself into Masters contention with a second-round 68 on Friday but warned against any temptation to bet on him winning his first Major at the tournament on Sunday.
Tucked in nicely near the top of the halfway leaderboard at four-under 140, the 32-year-old Spaniard strangely looked far from contented as he addressed his post-round press conference.
"I don't know if I'm ready to win. I'll see. We'll see. Depends how I play tomorrow, and then it depends how I go out there on Sunday and how I play," he said with a shrug of the shoulders when asked if he thought he could win.
"I wish I could tell you I'm ready to win, but I really don't know. So I'm just going to give it my best try, and you know, hopefully that will be good."
Part of the problem stems mainly from Garcia's well-documented disdain for the sequence of changes made to the Augusta National course over the last decade, especially the lengthening of the course and the addition of more trees.
He admits to feeling very uncomfortable on several holes and says he just wants to play them and get them over with as quickly as possible.
Testimony to that is own record here, which shows just two top-10 finishes in 13 Masters attempts and a record over the last five years of: missed cut, missed cut, tie for 38th, tie for 45th and tie for 35th.
"I think it's just an amazing place. Obviously it would be nice to play with good weather and play the course the way it's supposed to play, firm, kind of firm greens and things like that," he said.
"Unfortunately it feels like since they made all the changes just after 1999, we have not been able to really play that way. I don't know why. It's just unfortunate.
"The Masters before all the changes, it was mainly about the approach shots to the greens and everything around the greens and on the greens.
"Now, you have to drive the ball. If you don't drive the ball here, you are out of position. The fairways have gotten very narrow. There's a lot of trees around that didn't used to be there. And it just becomes very, very difficult."
Adding to Garcia's discomfort was the cold Georgia spring weather that he experienced over the first two rounds played Thursday evening and Friday morning and an infected fingernail on his left hand that bleeds as he plays his round.
"It's obviously a little uncomfortable," he said.
"I think early on the day, it's worse. Then as the round goes on it probably opens up a little bit with the inflammation.
"I had it last year on a different finger at the qualifying for the British Open when I had to pull out.
"I guess the good thing about this one is it's more in the middle one, so I don't need to use it as much more grip pressure."
Day Withdraws From Masters due to Injury
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Jason Day, last year's joint runner-up, pulled out of the Masters golf tournament during the second round on Friday due to an ankle problem, tournament organizers said.
The Australian, playing with Americans Kyle Stanley and Bill Haas, had completed seven holes and was at five-over for the tournament when he decided to end his participation.
Day enjoyed a breakthrough season last year when he tied with fellow Australian Adam Scott at his first-ever Masters behind winner Charl Schwartzel and then took second place two months later behind Rory McIlroy at the US Open.
That propelled him into the world top 10 and he started this year's Masters seen as a good outside bet for the year's first Major.
He is the third player to withdraw from the original field of 97 after Americans Dustin Johnson and Mark O'Meara.
Oosthuizen Finally Makes cut at Augusta National
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Louis Oosthuizen finally put his Masters misery behind him on Friday by making the cut for the weekend.
The runaway 2010 British Open winner had played the tournament three times previously and on each occasion he was heading home early.
But after an opening 68, which saw him in a share of second place, the 29-year-old South African blew cold on the front nine in the second round only to breathe flames down the back nine.
He finally came in with a par 72 and at four under for the tournament will be handily placed going into the weekend to take a crack at winning a second major title.
"I've never come into this tournament playing really well," he said.
"This is probably the first one I came in feeling confident, the way I swing it and the way I'm hitting the ball. So it makes a huge difference.
"It's a weird spot for me to be in to be third at the moment. I normally was busy changing tickets (to fly) back home. It's a nice spot to be in."
Out early when the conditions at Augusta National were cold and breezy, Oosthuizen took a double-bogey seven at the second and by the turn he had shed three strokes.
But with the skies brightening, he turned things around and three birdies in the last five holes allowed him to duck back under par.
In Thursday's opening round, Oosthuizen birdied four of the final five holes, recalling the exploit of fellow South African Charl Schwartzel here last year when he became the first player to win a major title with birdies on the last four holes of the tournament.
"The course played so different the front nine than it did the second nine," he said.
"Once the sun came out, the ball went a bit further. I mean, it was cold this morning. It was cold on the golf course. The wind was all over the place. It was tough.
"Looked at the scores and the guys made birdies starting the first five holes, some of them were 3-under, and I was 3-over.
"So I knew I just needed to hang on and try to finish 1-under or level for the tournament, but I started a bit better on the back nine, and my two good birdies were there on 16 and 17."
Should Oosthuizen win on Sunday, he will be the third South African winner here in the last five years after Schwartzel last year and Trevor Immelman in 2008.
McIlroy Makes a Move as Masters Drama Heats up
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Reigning US Open champion Rory McIlroy was among a fistful of big-name players charging up the leaderboard in a Friday shootout at the Masters as Tiger Woods and top-ranked Luke Donald teed off.
Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, seeking their first major titles, joined McIlroy in a back-nine drama with 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, 1999 British Open winner Paul Lawrie and 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen.
But the unlikely leader was Jason Dufner, a 31st-ranked American with no tour-level triumphs whose only prior Masters start was a share of 30th in 2010. Last year he came to Augusta National only as a spectator.
Dufner birdied the par-5 second and par-4 third before a double-bogey at the par-3 fourth dropped him back. He birdied the par-3 sixth but closed the front nine with a bogey.
He then caught fire with three birdies in four holes, the par-5 13th and 15th and the par-3 16th to gain sole possession of the lead, one stroke atop third-ranked Englishman Westwood.
Westwood opened with 10 pars and answered a bogey on a long uphill putt at the 11th with a four-foot birdie at the tricky par-3 12th.
Dufner squandered a late lead at last year's PGA Championship and lost in a playoff, meaning he will try to match McIlroy's feat of winning a major after throwing one away.
World No. 2 McIlroy, a 22-year-old Northern Ireland prodigy, led the first three rounds at last year's Masters and at the 10th tee on Sunday before a nightmare finish led to a final-round 80.
While the education helped him close out a victory two months later at the US Open, McIlroy returned to Augusta National this year as a favorite seemingly with unfinished business.
After opening Thursday on one-under 71, McIlroy made his move quickly in the second round with birdies at the third and par-3 fourth, the latter from 40 feet. He added a birdie at the seventh but began the back nine with a bogey.
South African Oosthuizen seized the early clubhouse lead at four-under par 140 after 36 holes with a second-round 72 despite a double-bogey at the par-5 second hole and back-to-back bogeys at four and five following a birdie.
Oosthuizen, who birdied four of the final five holes on Thursday, birdied three of the last five on Friday, reclaiming strokes at the par-4 14th and 17th and par-3 16th before closing with a par.
Garcia birdied the second and fourth, added back-to-back birdies at seven and eight and answered a bogey at the ninth with a birdie at the parf-3 12th to reach four-under with Oosthuizen and Sweden's Peter Hanson.
Hanson, one adrift after 18 holes, opened with a double bogey after hitting a tree, but responded with birdies on the next three holes to share the lead before stumbling back with a bogey to open the back nine.
The three-under pack included Couples, McIlroy and American Ben Crane.
Woods, a 14-time major winner coming off a victory two weeks ago at Bay Hill that snapped a 28-month win drought, struggled off the tee to a first-round 72 on Thursday but started his second round with a birdie to reach one-under.
England's Donald, seeking his first major title but coming off an opening 75, could be in a fight just to make the 36-hole cut, which comes at the low 44 and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the lead.
Masters Third-Round Pairings
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6, 2012 (AFP) - Pairings for Saturday's third round of the 76th Masters golf tournament at par-72 Augusta National Golf Club (all times local, four hours off GMT):
9:15 a.m. - Kelly Kraft (USA)
9:25 - Trevor Immelman (RSA), Angel Cabrera (ARG)
9:35 - Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Patrick Cantlay (USA)
9:45 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP)
9:55 - Luke Donald (ENG), Keegan Bradley (USA)
10:05 - Rickie Fowler (USA), Steve Stricker (USA)
10:15 - Bo Van Pelt (USA), Robert Karlsson (SWE)
10:25 - Ross Fisher (ENG), Anders Hansen (DEN)
10:35 - Martin Laird (SCO), Scott Verplank (USA)
10:45 - Tiger Woods (USA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
10:55 - Martin Kaymer (GER), Scott Stallings (USA)
11:05 - Open
11:15 - Brandt Snedeker (USA), Graeme McDowell (NIR)
11:25 - Kevin Chappell (USA), Bae Sang-Moon (KOR)
11:35 - Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Bill Haas (USA)
11:45 - Stewart Cink (USA), David Toms (USA)
11:55 - Webb Simpson (USA), Kevin Na (USA)
12:05 p.m. - Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Adam Scott (AUS)
12:15 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Justin Rose (ENG)
12:25 - Padraig Harrington (IRL), Hunter Mahan (USA)
12:35 - Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Ian Poulter (ENG)
12:45 - Zach Johnson (USA), Gary Woodland (USA)
12:55 - Yang Yong-Eun (KOR), Jim Furyk (USA)
1:05 - Open
1:15 - Jonathan Byrd (USA), Sean O'Hair (USA)
1:25 - Nick Watney (USA), Henrik Stenson (SWE)
1:35 - Aaron Baddeley (AUS), Peter Hanson (SWE)
1:45 - Phil Mickelson (USA), Vijay Singh (FIJ)
1:55 - Charles Howell (USA), Ben Crane (USA)
2:05 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Matt Kuchar (USA)
2:15 - Paul Lawrie (SCO), Bubba Watson (USA)
2:25 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Sergio Garcia (ESP)
2:35 - Lee Westwood (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)
2:45 - Fred Couples (USA), Jason Dufner (USA)