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Justin Rose apparently didn’t understand that Augusta National was a little more forgiving on Friday in the Masters. The consolation was always to have the head, but hardly.
Rose didn’t hit a putt hard enough to get through the fringe behind the fourth green. Another putt on the sixth hole didn’t get enough rhythm and came back towards him about twenty yards away.
All around him, major champions and a Masters rookie scored well enough to close the gap. Contenders even included Si Woo Kim, who broke his putter in anger and used fairway metal to putt the last four holes.
Rose was among 12 players who beat the through Friday. He was not among the 40 who beat parity on Saturday.
“I didn’t really appreciate that the score was going to be this good today,” he said.
Even so, his par 72 was good enough for a one-shot lead in a weekend filled with a bit of mystery about how Augusta National will play and plenty of possibilities as to who wins the Green Jacket.
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One thing is for sure: it won’t be Dustin Johnson, who put in 64 putts in 36 holes and missed the cup by two strokes.
Rose was 7 under 137, one shot past Brian Harman (69) and Will Zalatoris (68), the 24-year-old from Dallas who still does not have a full PGA Tour card.
“I wanted to be here my whole life,” Zalatoris said after birdies on his last three holes to enter the final group. “Some people hesitate, but I’m glad to be here. There’s no reason to feel intimidated now. I’ve arrived here. And obviously the job isn’t done.”
Jordan Spieth (68) and Marc Leishman (67) were two shots behind. Spieth stands out for his magic around Augusta National – a green jacket, two finalists and a third-place finish in his seven appearances – and because he just picked up a Texas Open victory that ended a drought of nearly four years.
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“Having done a triple and five holes over par in two rounds, I feel pretty good to be 5 under,” Spieth said after a 68.
The three-shot group behind included Kim, who shot 69 with little chance of birding with fairway metal on the greens. Aafter a three-putt bogey on the 14th and a chip that nearly came off the green on the 15th, he stuck the clubhead in the grass and damaged it.
When asked if he had a spare putter, Kim replied, “No, I don’t want to answer anymore. Sorry.”
Rose had a four stroke lead at the start of a hot, cloudy day and he was gone after his fourth seven-hole bogey. He didn’t give up the rest of the way, picked up three birdies on the back nine and recovered the day.
“Just a classic day at Augusta National when you’re a little behind,” Rose said. “I was like going up the eighth hole, ‘You’re leading the Masters.’ Your frame of reference is a little different from yesterday. Four forward is something, but you’re still in the lead. take advantage and carry on. “
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The course played with an average score of 72.2, compared to 74.5 for the first round.
Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and Tony Finau each had 66 within three shots. Also in this group was Justin Thomas, who can return to world No. 1 with a victory. He missed a short putt on the last hole and shot 67.
“For as hard as this place played, I felt like it was as easy as it could have been,” Thomas said.
The wild card in all of this is Zalatoris, built like a 1 iron and already renowned for his ball hitting. His late run started with a 9 iron one-pin right back on the 16th by 3 to 10 feet and ended in a 138-yard corner on the 18th at 5 feet.
“Being here is a childhood dream,” he said. “The last band on Saturday is pretty cool.”
Zalatoris played his best when golf was stopped during the pandemic. Zalatoris was on the Korn Ferry Tour and when golf resumed he had five consecutive top six finishes, including his first win.
This gave him access to the US Open, where he finished sixth. Now he is a temporary member of the PGA Tour and is in the top 50 in the world which places him in the Masters. This is why he speaks of an “attitude of gratitude”.
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Zalatoris is also a quick study with a long memory. He grew up with the children of former PGA Champion Lanny Wadkins and told stories about Wadkins and his 23 Masters rounds. A story Zalatoris heard when he was 14 came in handy on the 12th par 3 hole.
“He just said every time it was upwind… it didn’t really affect the ball that much,” Zalatoris said. “And when it’s downwind, that’s where guys tend to struggle.”
The wind was blowing about 10 mph in and out of it to the left, 153 yards from the hole. He hit a shot that normally goes 152 yards and he carried 150. It helped that he made a 35-foot putt for birdie.
It’s been 42 years since Fuzzy Zoeller became the most recent player to win the Masters on his first try.
Right there with Zalatoris is another Dallas resident – Spieth, who looks like the Spieth of old age at 27. He thought he could win at Augusta before he even won last week in Texas.
“I am now in a position to think this for sure,” said Spieth. “But halfway through, I would have been happy to have two back.”
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