AUGUSTA: Jon Rahm battled through two stoppages on Friday and dank weather with insistent rain that alternated between drizzles and heavy downpour on Saturday, to reach the halfway mark of the 87th Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Enjoined with Brooks Koepka at 7-under 65 after the first round, Rahm (65-69; 10-under) handled the wet and cold conditions well enough to keep Koepka (65-67; 12-under) in sight. Rahm, who had not dropped any shots after the double bogey on the first hole of the first round, was on t rack to join Koepka but dropped shots on 16th and 18th and ceded a two-shot lead to the resurgent American, who now has a chance to improve his best of T-2 at the Masters.
With play having been suspended early on the second day, more than a third of the field, including Rahm and the five-time champion Tiger Woods, came back on Saturday morning.
When play resumed on Saturday, the two dominating storylines were Rahm's chase of Koepka and Woods' quest for a 23rd straight cut at the Masters. Woods and the crowd agonized as the legend endangered his amazing streak dating back to 1997 with a bogey-bogey finish in pouring rain. Yet, he managed to sneak inside the all-important cutline.
Woods' last two wins came in 2019 at the Masters and the Zozo Championships and he has not logged a Top-5 finish since finishing fourth at his own Hero World Challenge at Albany in late 2019.
Woods was still waiting to see if he had made the cut, when he met the media and said it meant a lot to make the cut. He said, "I've always loved this golf course, and I love playing this eve nt. Obviously I've missed a few with some injuries, but I've always wanted to play here. I've loved it. I hope I get a chance to play this weekend. I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds." He did and will be here to delight his fans over the weekend.
Since 1995, when he first played at Augusta as an amateur, Woods missed the cut just once in 1996. The cut was first introduced in 1957. The cut fell at 3-over and 54 players including the lone amateur, Sam Bennett, who is lying sole third, made the grade. The 1992 champion Fred Couples became the oldest player to make the cut here at 63 years, 6 months and five days.
Rory McIlroy tumbled out after rounds of 72-77. Other notables to miss the cut were Justin Thomas (70-78), Bryson De Chambeau (74-74), Sergio Garcia (74-77). Despite bogeys on 16th and 18th in wet weather, Rahm showed enough that he will not be easy to shake off for the rampant 'Major' man, Koepka, whose first two rounds have been highly efficient with 65-67.
Indian-American Sahith Theegala (72-70) finished bogey-bogey but still made the cut at T-29.
Leading 2nd round scores: -12 Brooks Koepka (USA) 65-67; -10 Jon Rahm (Spain) 65-69; -8 Samuel Bennett (USA) 68-68.
