From Augusta National: Augusta Bites Back, Homa/Bryson/Scottie Lead and Tiger Breaks Another Masters Record

Warren Little. Getty Images.

AUGUSTA — It played about as hard as a golf course can, utterly perplexing the best players on the planet. Erik van Rooyen called them the hardest conditions he's ever played in.

"It was brutal," says Harris English. "This course is hard with no wind, and then you throw in gusts like that, it can be three clubs different, depending on what time you hit it. Ten to 20 seconds later or earlier, it can be a totally different shot. It's really tough. You've just got to get through it and try to think positive and hit it at the right time when you're comfortable, and once it leaves the club face, you've got no control over it."

A day after Augusta National yielded a ton of under-par rounds, Friday at the Masters played rather similarly to a U.S. Open. Rock-hard greens, swirling winds and double-bogeys lurking everywhere. 

As such, the 36-hole lead is lower than the 18-hole pace of 7-under. It's held by three very capable men: Max Homa, who shot a 71 that quite impressed Tiger Woods; Scottie Scheffler, the best player on the planet; and Bryson DeChambeau, who's gaming a new set of 3D-printed irons that were only approved by the USGA on Monday evening. 

Scheffler's a major champion and so is DeChambeau, but Homa's never been in this position. And so he's doing what he can to give himself the belief that he's ready for the moment. 

"I wrote something in my journal yesterday that said however good I am is however good I am, I don't need to try to be better than I am, and just see where that takes me," Homa said. "Maybe it's winning this and maybe it's not, and I'm okay with that. I know what I put into this game, trying to get every ounce back doesn't really work, and I've tried that part."

DeChambeau was looking forward to going toe-to-toe with this terminator version of Scottie Scheffler. Now that he's on LIV he hasn't had the chance to test his skills against the clear world No. 1. 

"It's different, obviously, not being able to play most of the same events and seeing how successful he's been out there. He's obviously the best player in the world, and it's going to be a lot of fun competing and seeing what he can do compared to what the rest of the field can do, what I can do. I'm looking forward to it, I really am."

Tiger breaks another Masters record, not ready to be a ceremonial golfer

Tiger Woods grinded his ass off and saved par from everywhere to manufacture an even-par 72 on a day when the scoring average soared past 75. At one over heading into the weekend Woods is tied for 22nd and safely made his 24th consecutive cut at the Masters, breaking a tie with Fred Couples for the all-time record. After the round, Woods was asked what the achievement means to him. His answer shows a golfer who's not yet ready to be a ceremonial player. 

"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."

Incredibly, Woods' 36-hole total is lower than each of the four reigning major champions. Brooks Koepka's at +2, Rahm at +5, and both Wyndham Clark (+7) and Brian Harman (+9) are headed home. 

A brutal ejection for so, so many

It's hard to overstate just how difficult the golf course played, but the only stat that truly matters—the score—paints a pretty daunting picture. Justin Thomas played his last three holes in +7 to miss the cut. Jordan Spieth, with six top-five finishes to his name at the Masters, is headed home. So are Harman, Clark, Viktor Hovland,  Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose. The cut of +6 is the highest since 2018, and player after player trudged to the interview area looking like they'd been in a prize fight. It was a long day for so many, with nearly half the field having to come back Friday morning to finish their first round. Rory McIlroy fell out of contention with a five-over 77 but did grind out two final pars to safely make the weekend. 

"Tough day, really tough day," McIlroy said. Every single player would agree. "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."

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