AUGUSTA, Georgia – Charl Schwartzel saw this coming. Never mind the six consecutive missed cuts on the PGA Tour heading into this week. Schwartzel took a fortnight off, watched old footage of the Masters and felt his confidence begin to swell. The 2011 Masters champion now finds himself with a share of the clubhouse lead with overnight leader Sungjae Im (74) at 3-under 141 after a second-round 69.
“The bad results didn’t really determine how I felt coming in here,” said a reserved Schwartzel. “I actually took two weeks off, and as the two weeks went by, my confidence grew in belief that I could win this tournament because I was starting to hit it very good and just looked at old footages, and it’s still there.”
Schwartzel, 37, made tournament history 11 years ago when he became the first player to win the Masters by closing his round on Sunday with four consecutive birdies. The young South African had to fend off a host of contenders to do it, too. Eight different players held a share of the lead on the back nine that Sunday, including five at one time. His triumph came exactly 50 years after fellow South African Gary Player became the first international player to win at Augusta.
In a way, the challenging winds on a chilly day in Georgia helped keep Schwartzel’s mind from becoming too active. Schwartzel has spent too much time of late, he said, thinking about what can go wrong inside the ropes.
An 11-time winner on the DP World Tour, Schwartzel’s most recent victory on the PGA Tour came at the 2016 Valspar Championship. His last top 10 on the PGA Tour came at the 2021 3M Open in July, where he took a share of second.
When asked what he focused on coming into this week, Schwartzel said he’s been working on it the whole season.
“I haven’t felt like I’ve played as badly as my results, though,” he said. “I tried to tighten the swing up a little bit. Get the hands a little more passive. Hands were a little too active. I must be honest. These two rounds are one of the two best ball-striking rounds I’ve had in a very long time.”
2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson and Harold Varner III are one shot back at 2 under.
How tough was it out there?
Schwartzel said any player in the field would be happy shooting level par in Friday’s conditions. His 3 under was a bit of a bonus.
Lee Westwood, like first-round lead Im, shot 74 in Round 2 and pointed out the sand blowing out of a bunker during his post-round interview.
“I said to (Russell) Henley coming down 15,” said Westwood, “there’s so many smelly shots out on that golf course today that you need a bit of fortune to hit it at the right time.”
Johnson said he felt like he had to grind all day in the gusty conditions.
“Two under is definitely in a better position than I thought it would be,” he said.
