Rory McIlroy opens up six-shot lead after Friday 65
McIlroy stalks his tickly downhill putt. He’s absolutely on fire right now so there’s no way this is going anywhere but underground. And in it goes, the four-footer completing a round of 7-under 65 which included a sensational run of six birdies in the last seven holes. He has a commanding six-shot lead over American duo Sam Burns and Patrick Reed.
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
-4: Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan, Day, Young
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Another way of framing McIlroy’s position is that he’s 11 clear of Scottie Scheffler. Six players have held a five-shot lead at halfway in the Masters and five went on to win. After finding the fairway, Rory goes in to 18 with a 5-iron from 147 yards. His ball catches the slope and runs back to around five feet. He’s on track to become the first player in history to lead the event by six after 36 holes.
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Cam Young has played the last four holes in -4 and still lost ground to playing partner McIlroy over that stretch. Remarkable. Young is seven back and in a six-way tie for seventh as he and McIlroy head to the 18th.
Let’s recap. After looking a little wobbly with bogeys at 5 and 10, McIlroy has gone birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie from the 12th. Amazing stuff.
My word Rory! McIlroy is in tree trouble down the left at 17 so can only punch one back into the fairway. It’s no easy up and down from short and right of the green but… he chips in for birdie!! Huge roars!!! McIlroy raises the magical wedge to the skies with his left hand and then punches the air with his right. Is this thing over? Rory is walking on water and leads the Masters by a massive five-shot margin.
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Bryson DeChambeau misses cut
Up at 18, Bryson DeChambeau is floundering. The two-time US Open champion needs bogey at the par 4 to make the cut but finds himself in sand after three shots. Up and down gets him into the weekend but he splashes out too far right and his ball trickles off the green. The Hail Mary chip-in attempt never has a chance and he takes two more putts to rack up a triple-bogey 7. One of the pre-tournament favourites is heading home.
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Young also hits an excellent tee-shot at 16 but the birdie streak ends at four as his six-foot putt somehow turns away from the hole when heading in. Rory holes and is four clear! That’s four birdies in five. Leader Board update!
-10: McIlroy (16)
-6: Burns (F), Reed (F)
-5: Rose (F), Lowry (F), Fleetwood (F)
-4: Clark (F), Hatton (F), Li (F), Reitan (F), Day (F), Young (16)
Rory is on the charge! At the par-3 16th, his tee-shot is just left enough to avoid staying up on the top shelf. His ball unsticks itself from the green after the shock of impact, slowly gathers momentum and then accelerates down the slope to a couple of feet away. And that’s going to be a dramatic swing. Reed bogeys the last for a 69 after, surprisingly for him, failing to get up and down and when Rory knocks that in, the defending champ will be four clear! Fleetwood also bogeys 18 to fall back alongside Ryder Cup teammates Rose and Lowry at -5.
At 15, it’s a putting masterclass from McIlroy and Young. Young’s second bounds over the putting surface and, mindful of chipping back towards a green with water on the other side, he plays a careful third. No matter, he curls in the putt from just inside 25 feet for a fourth straight birdie and he’s up to -4. McIlroy follows him in from 12 feet and Rory pulls two clear again at the top, hitting 9-under.
A new fifth paragraph to Ewan Murray’s Robert MacIntyre story.
“Augusta officials are likely to take a dim view of a MacIntyre social media post on Friday evening, which depicted an AI-generated image of himself as the iconic Masters gnome making an offensive gesture.”
Patrick Reed has missed several good opportunities for further gains on the second nine but he walks in his birdie putt from 14 feet at 17 to move within a shot of the lead. And look out for Shane Lowry all of a sudden. The 2019 Open champion has been hanging around on the fringes but he birdies 16 and 18 to sign for a well-played 69 that puts him at 5-under and in a tie for fifth.
While the back nine has been a disaster for Bhatia, Cam Young is showing that Augusta’s inward half also offers plenty of birdie chances. Although he bogeyed 10, the Sawgrass winner has birdied 12, 13 and 14. He’s down the right of the fairway at the par-5 15th but will be plotting a fourth straight gain as he strolls down the fairway to reach his ball. Young, who was +4 after nine holes of this Masters, is now -3 and tied 12th. Talking of swings in momentum, the aforementioned Bhatia now holes his bunker shot at 17 to breathe new life into his fast-vanishing hopes of making the cut.
Left-handers have a strong record at Augusta (Mike Weir, Bubba, Mickelson) and Akshay Bhatia was fancied by some to produce another win for the southpaws this week. He was going nicely after a three-under 33 on the front nine took him to 2-under. But his second nine has been a disaster: double bogey, bogey, bogey, double bogey, par, par, bogey. That’s seven shots gone in no time and suddenly he’s outside the cut line at +5.
Fleetwood is putting down the Cresta Run at 16 after leaving his tee-shot up top. There’s no chance of leaving his first putt short but he somehow doesn’t let it escape too far beyond the cup and holes the one back for a sturdy, well-made par. Augusta also shows off its extreme slopes at 14 as McIlroy’s approach isn’t near enough to the left flag and skittles off and away like a startled rabbit down the green. But he hits a super lag putt to kick-in distance and remains at -8, two clear.
Sam Burns posts new clubhouse lead
A sprint finish from Sam Burns and the American suddenly takes the lead in the clubhouse at -6 after birdies at 15, 17 and 18. That’s a superb recovery after he took six swipes at 13 to go 2-over for the day. The American had a piece of the lead after both 36 and 54 holes at last June’s US Open before getting unlucky with the weather and finishing seventh. He’s got another shot at a first major title this weekend.
More crystal for Tommy Fleetwood! After an eagle at 8, he makes his second of the day at 15 after curling in a right-to-lefter from 16 feet. That elevates the Englishman to tied second and just one back. For now at least. Back on the other par 5 at 13, Cam Young cashes in on his lucky break to get up and down for birdie. That’s the Players Championship winner up to -2 and tied 15th. Can Rory follow him in for birdie? He can! McIlroy has an aura of calm about him again, his movements slowed down. Once more, Rory has increased his lead back to two shots.
Cameron Young’s second to 13 bounces on the edge of the green and looks a certainly to roll off into Rae’s Creek. But in echoes of Fred Couples at 12 in 1992 his ball somehow clings on. Had the mower been set a quarter-of-an-inch shorter and that would have been a watery grave. Young realises and does a double fist celebration back down the fairway. Meanwhile, playing partner McIlroy ignores the oohs and aahs and hits a beautiful approach with his third and now has a good chance to make birdie.
At 13, McIlroy stands in the pine straw and peeks through the trees. He’s not going to pull a Mickelson from 2010 though and just bunts one down the fairway. Reed is deeper in the forest at 15 but the branches on the trees at Augusta are high not low so he also finds a way back to the fairway with a firm punch. Fleetwood does have the chance to go for the green in two at 15 and launches a heart-in-the-mouth fairway wood high into the Augusta skies. It’s just got enough to hold the front edge although needs a “stay there” from Butch Harmon in commentary to stop rolling back disobediently.
Problems for the two leaders. McIlroy can’t get his tee shot at 13 to turn and blocks it deep into the trees. Reed, meanwhile, duckhooks his drive at 15 into all sorts of trouble. Both are par 5s I guess. Reitan also finds trouble at the last and signs off with a bogey. Still, that’s an excellent round of 68 for the Norwegian and, as it stands, he’s in a tie for fifth halfway through his first Masters.
McIlroy strokes in his birdie putt at 12 to put the first circle on his card since the 4th. He leads on his own again although Reed has a birdie chance up at the 14th after a fine approach to a back-left flag. He can’t make it though. Leader Board time.
-7: McIlroy (12)
-6: Reed (14)
-5: Rose (F), Reitan (17), Day (14)
-4: Clark (F), Hatton (F), Li (F), Burns (16), Fleetwood (14)
-3: Gotterup (F), Koepka (F), Griffin (F), Lowry (15)
Rory now playing 12, Golden Bell. The winds can swirly mysteriously at Amen Corner but it’s dead calm now and McIlroy takes advantage, plonking his wedge to around six feet on the par 3 with the angled green. A great birdie chance. Is this where he presses the accelerator again? The par 5s at 13 and 15 are coming up shortly so Rory hopefully has some positive thoughts rushing through his mind as he walks to that serene corner of the course (12th green and 13th tee) where patrons aren’t allowed.
Here’s Ewan Murray live from Augusta on a not very chatty Robert MacIntyre. The Scot will be missing the cut.
Fleetwood’s trousers are extremely baggy it has to be said. Suggs would have enjoyed singing about them and they’re the sort of oversized flappers you catch Ernie Els wearing when looking at footage from the Byron Nelson in the 1990s. Thankfully the winds are down so Tommy can strut around like a young MC Hammer, knowing the gusts won’t affect him. In other news, he’s just had to settle for par at 13 so remains at -4. Reed had a putt to take the lead on his own at the same hole but he too needed five swishes so stays tied with Rory, who has just made a solid par at 11.
McIlroy’s par putt at 10 lips out so that’s a bogey. It drops him back into a tie for the lead with Reed at -6. After three birdies in his first four holes, Rory has now played the last five in -2. Hmmm.
Matt Cooper, who was on blog duty yesterday, is a Reitan fan and has just furnished me with a few more details about the Norwegian. “His family own Reitan Retail which is a leading company in the Nordic and Baltic countries. They’re essentially supermarket tycoons. The family are members at Valderrama. Scandinavian golf journalists say that they fly a private jet down to the south of Spain for 18 holes.”
Reitan’s charge continues and almost takes a spectacular boost at 16. He makes a fourth straight birdie when picking up a shot at the par-5 15th and then his tee-shot at the short 16th takes one hop and Rick O’Shea’s back off the flag. From 15 feet he can’t make the putt but a par keeps him tied third with Justin Rose. Reitan won his first DP World Tour event, the 2025 Soudal Open, with a closing 62 so he knows how to get on a roll.
McIlroy’s lead is down to a single stroke as Reed birdies 12. What a pairing that would be tomorrow. Memories of the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine when both were pumped to the max before Reed won an epic Singles battle on the final hole. Both already have green jackets and, as I write this, Justin Rose is talking about his bid to join the club. He’s clearly happy with his game and position but says he just wants to “putt a little freer”. It’s a fair assessment as Rose currently ranks 65th in round two’s Strokes Gained: Putting stats.
What of Cameron Young and Matt Fizpatrick – the two players who fought out the dramatic finish at The Players Championship? Both were fancied to challenge here but had difficult first rounds. Young, the eventual winner at Sawgrass, was a bit of a shambles over his opening nine holes yesterday when going out in 4-over 40. But he came home in 33 to limit the damage to a 1-over 73 and has picked up another couple of shots today to get into the red. At -1 he’s now tied 18th. Fitzpatrick, who won the Valspar Championship a week after being pipped by Young at Sawgrass, doubled the 18th yesterday to shoot 74 and started slowly today. But he’s birdied 8, 9 and 11 (moments ago) to return to even par (tied 23rd).
Both Reed and Fleetwood miss the green right at 11 and have short-sided themselves with the flag on the front right. But the Ryder Cup rivals both hole testy par putts to remain at -5 and -4 respectiely. Leader Board time.
-7: McIlroy (9)
-5: Rose (F), Reed (11)
-4: Clark (F), Hatton (F), Li (F), Reitan (14), Day (12), Fleetwood (11), Schauffele (10)
-3: Gotterup (F), Koepka (F), Griffin (F), Burns (13), Lowry (12)
Perhaps the biggest danger to McIlroy is the lurking Xander Schauffele. A two-time major winner in 2024, the Californian has been craftily plotting his way around Augusta National like a classy Grand National winner being held up at Aintree (the big race is tomorrow, folks!). But he’ll now be getting a mention from Peter O’Sullevan after making ground with birdies at 8 and 10. Still lots of fences to jump but Schauffele is just three off the pace and going nicely.
There are 22 debutants in this year’s Masters and all will have been reminded over and over that there hasn’t been a first-time winner of the event since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. In truth, it was pretty amazing that Zoeller won that green jacket 47 years ago. Basically, Ed Sneed absolutely threw it away with a trio of closing bogeys, his par putt on 18 hanging on the lip before he lost in a three-way playoff against Zoeller and Tom Watson. Check it out on YouTube. Anyway, back to this year and we have a debutant in the mix: Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan. A real bloomer in the last couple of years, the 28-year-old from Oslo has reeled of a hat-trick of birdies at 12, 13 and 14 to move into a tie for fourth at -4, just three back.
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McIlroy drops to his knees as his lengthy birdie putt from just off the green at 8 tracks towards the hole but misses by a whisker left. He’d been rather all over the place on that hole so a par is fine. Tommy Fleetwood is certainly going in the right direction after following eagle at 8 with an 18-footer for birdie at 10. He’s up to tied fourth.
Rory’s drive at the par-5 8th finds sand down the right – a common destination. He plays out and then takes his hand off the club as he hits a draw towards the green with his third. He’s overcooked it long and left so has some work to do to make par on a hole he would have been looking to birdie. It’s just turned a little awkward. Would Rory shake your hand if you offered him the chance to finish on -7, the score he has now?
Datagolf produce live cutline probabilities. As we stand, these are the numbers being spat out.
+3 – 12.6%
+4 – 86.3%
+5 – 1.1%
Those already done for the day at +5: 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett, US Open champ J.J. Spaun and England’s Harry Hall. Nicolai Hojgaard (+6) and Robert MacIntyre (+7) definitely won’t be around for the weekend.
Rory McIlroy leads the Masters but there are a few troubling signs creeping in. He’s hit a couple of poor wedges in the last three holes and his unconvincing waft at 7 – which leaves his scratching the back of his head – lands him in a bunker. Thankfully, his short game has no interest in a bogey so he splashes out for a tap-in par to stay two clear of fellow major winners Rose, Day and Reed. Day has joined the -5s after birdies at 8 and 9.
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The hottest man on the course is China’s Haotong Li whose scorecard now looks like Sungjae Im’s shirt. A run of birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie from 13 to 16 has taken Li to -4 and into a tie for sixth. We shouldn’t be surprised to see him on a major leaderboard though. The 30-year-old finished solo third in the 2017 Open Championship after closing with a 63 while he was tied fourth at Royal Portrush last summer. Up at 18 Scheffler’s birdie try drifts right so it’s a round of 2-over 74. Disappointing. In fact, it’s his second highest score in 26 laps of Augusta National and he walks off to sign his card in a tie for 22nd place.
McIlroy looks puzzled as his 12-footer at 6 starts left and drifts even more left. But no such bemusement for Tommy Fleetwood at 8 as he smashes his second onto the green and drains a 19-foot putt for eagle. That vaults him from -1 to -3 and into the top 10. And, of course, it’s more crystal for the mantlepiece. Jack Nicklaus is inundated with the stuff after making 24 eagles in his Masters career. I wonder what he’s done with it all. Special trophy cabinet? Donated it to quiz shows?
As McIlroy hits his 9-iron at the steep downhill par-3 6th – a hole that TV flattens out ridiculously – let’s pause for a leaderboard update. Here is your top 12. McIlroy hit an excellent tee shot by the way and has a 12 footer for birdie.
-7: McIlroy (5)
-5: Rose (F), Burns (10)
-4: Clark (F), Hatton (F), Li (16), Day (8), Reed (7)
-3: Gotterup (F), Koepka (F), Griffin (17), Lowry (8)
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So what of Scheffler at 15? It was a case, literally, of rinse and repeat. As at 13, he found water with his second and, once more, failed to retrieve the damage and took bogey. A pair of 6s on the two second-nine par 5s is basically a four-shot swing. Scheffler, as he’s been for the last two events, is now outside the top 20 and seven off McIlroy’s lead. Better news for the 2023 Masters winner Jon Rahm. Sort of. A 78 in round one just about killed his chances but he’s here for the weekend at least after responding with a 2-under 70. That’s a massive 11 back.
Justin Rose shoots 69
Justin Rose has a treacherous downhiller at 18 after finding the top level. He’s not in Hatton country though and can tickle this one down the slope on a more conventional line. He does a great job of it and taps in the second putt for a 69 to add to his opening 70. With Rory giving one back at 5, Rose is just two behind and in the hunt yet again to try and win his first Masters.
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In golf’s ‘Glass Half Empty’ Power Rankings, Tyrrell Hatton is clearly No 1. The Englishman is informed that’s he’s become just the third player in 30 years at The Masters to hit all 18 greens in regulation. But, no, why focus on that and a round of 66 when you’ve just bogeyed the last.
“I’m pretty disappointed standing here right now,” says Hatton. “I’d have loved to have at least made par on the last, but there was a lot of good golf today. Yeah, making seven birdies out there is not an easy thing to do.
“I definitely feel like the course played a little bit easier this morning. I guess they watered the greens quite a bit yesterday. It certainly was a tough afternoon in round one, but yeah, happy with how I played and hopefully I can play well this weekend.”
Asked what he’s learned over the last 10 years to be able to produce this level of golf, Hatton responds: “Well, clearly I haven’t learned enough with the three putt on the last, so I don’t know. I guess that this is my 10th time here and a lot of the tee shots I feel more comfortable on. The last few years I’ve driven the ball pretty well.
“You see today my own play was a lot better. I feel like I definitely struggled yesterday, but yeah, hopefully I keep hitting greens and it’ll be nice to see some putts go in. With a fast course and fast greens, it’s going to be a weekend where emotions are going to be running high.”
But Hatton knows the deal here, knows how his mind works and finds it hard to suppress a smile when asked how he’ll stay positive and patient for the weekend. “I don’t think me being positive and being patient mix very well, but I’ll try my best. See if I hit good golf shots, then that’s the best way to keep myself calm, so I’ll try to do that.” You’ve got to love that level of misery!
Last year’s 1-2 are currently this year’s 1-2. That’ll be Rory McIlroy (-8) and Justin Rose (-5). But what of the man who played alongside Rory in that momentous final round 12 months ago? Bryson DeChambeau briefly took the outright lead on Sunday in 2025 before stumbling but here he’s a whopping 12 shots back after shooting a 76 in round one and playing his first five holes today in even par.
Tyrrell Hatton shoots 66
It’s a frustrating three-putt bogey for Tyrrell Hatton at 18 but that’s still his best round at Augusta National by two shots. The 66 has lifted him into tied fourth which is currently three behind Rory McIlroy. Wait… make that four shots as the defending champ pours in his 20 foot left-to-righter at 4 for a third straight birdie. What a start for the 2025 winner! He hits -8 and this is getting uncomfortable for the chasing pack.
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Scottie Scheffler finds water again! This time he fires his 241-yard 3-iron second at the par-5 15th over the putting surface and, although there’s quite an expanse of grass behind that raised par 5 green, the attempted fade turns into a slinging double cross that bounds hard and fast down the slope and into the wet stuff. Deary me. These are not the mistakes we associate with the World No 1 in majors but he’s looked ‘off’ for the last few months and it’s catching up with him here.
The ideal start for any player at Augusta is to play the first three holes in -2. The opener is a tough par 4, the second is a par five reachable in two blows and the short par-4 third, though tricky, is a definite birdie chance if you’re in place to hit a delicate second. Rory McIlroy does just that, tapping in for his birdie at 3 to secure the desired 4-4-3 sequence. Last year’s winner leads the Masters by two shots!
Tyrrell Hatton hits his 18th green of the day! That’s a rare feat at Augusta National. Having said that, he’d bite your hand off for a par at the last after his approach stays up on the top shelf, meaning he’ll have one of those weird, Dali-type wonky putts where he might have to stand sideways to the hole.
Of the 11 players at the top of the leaderboard, seven are major winners. That’ll be McIlroy, Rose, Clark, Reed, Koepka, Lowry and Day. I quite like Day’s outfit today. Blue slacks, pale yellow shirt and visor. Very 80s Masters. I think he’s loaned his garish bird shirt to Sungjae Im for round two. You’re never going to win a major with an avian collage like that so it was a smart decision. That said, Im did shoot a 69 although he’s down in 32nd on the current Leader Board.
Rory’s back in front! Perhaps it was four feet but he puts a firm stroke on his putt at 2 and the birdie lifts him to -6 and one clear. Tyrrell Hatton’s birdie try at 17 from around 18 feet just lacks enough pace to hold its line so he taps in for par to stay at -5. The group at -5 now extends to three as Rose gets up and down impressively at 15 after airmailing his approach long while Burns sinks his birdie effort at 7.
-6: McIlroy (2)
-5: Hatton (17), Rose (15), Burns (7)
-4: Clark (F), Reed (4)
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More par 5 action now and it’s contrasting news for Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Scheffler goes for it in two at the 13th but pushes his approach enough for the ball to bound into Rae’s Creek. From there his short game can’t save the day so a ‘6’ is scribbled on a hole where he would have expected two shots better. He drops to -1 and four off the pace. Back at 2, Rory has to lay up but floats a masterful wedge onto the green which trickles back to three feet or so. It’s a slippery one but you’d fancy him to make it.
Patrick Reed has a short game to die for and a beautifully excuted chip up on to the elevated green at 3 leaves him with a short birdie putt. He rolls that one in at moves to -4, just a shot off the lead. As well as winning in 2018, he’s had four top 10s since so Reed loves this place. While he eyes another title challenge (he’s just made par at 4), 2023 winner Jon Rahm is battling to make the cut. He lays up on the 15th and can only make par, his fifth straight on the second nine. At +5 he remains on the wrong side of the cut line by a shot.
Thanks Scott. Tyrrell Hatton managed to break 70 just once in his first seven cracks at The Masters and seemed increasingly bamboozled by the place. A 68 in 2021 remains his best lap but a round of 69 in each of the last two editions has helped him claim ninth (2024) and 14th (2025). Now, in his 10th Masters, Hatton is tied for the lead and on course for a 65 if he can close with two pars.
Tyrrell Hatton does indeed make his birdie on 15. Then he sends his tee shot at 16 to six feet. In goes the putt, and this is turning into one of the all-time charges! Meanwhile Justin Rose can’t make his short birdie putt on 14. Birdie for Patrick Reed on 3. An opening par for Rory. And Sam Burns drops his first stroke of the day, the damage done by finding fairway sand at 5 from the tee. It’s all change at the top!
-5: Hatton (16), McIlroy (1)
-4: Clark (F), Rose (14), Burns (5), Reed (3)
-3: Koepka (14), Griffin (13), Lowry (4), Day (4)
… and with that, I’ll leave you in the company of David Tindall. Enjoy the rest of today’s golf. I’ll see you tomorrow for Moving Day!
You may recall Justin Rose and his caddie having a short conversation with each other on the 9th fairway. Now they’re railing at the patrons, who are faffing around while Rose is preparing to take aim at the 14th green. Some sharp words. Then an arrow from 153 yards to four feet. Shades of Rory bollocking the crowd then turning around to close the match out at Bethpage in the Ryder Cup. He’ll have a great look at birdie.
Back-to-back birdies for Brooks Koepka at 12 and 13. The five-time major winner is right in the mix now at -3. Meanwhile Tyrrell Hatton very nearly spins his approach back into the cup for eagle at 15; he’ll surely be tapping in for birdie that will move him to -4. And Tommy Fleetwood repairs the damage of an opening bogey with birdie at 2. He’s -1.
Here comes defending champion Rory McIlroy. He’s in the penultimate group today, and having waited so long to tee off, doesn’t hang about. He whistles his driver down the right-hand side of the fairway. Now then, here’s a nice list flashed up by Sky Sports of the lowest first rounds by defending champions. McIlroy’s is up there.
66: Jose Maria Olazabal (1995), Jordan Spieth (2016)
67: Cary Middlecoff (1956), Gary Player (1962), Jack Nicklaus (1976), Rory McIlroy (2026)
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A well-worked-out par for Scottie Scheffler on 11. Having sent his drive tight to the trees on the left, he doesn’t take on the green – or the pond to the left - with his second. He lays up front right, and backs his short game. He wedges to three feet, and tidies up to remain at -2. Then he finds the heart of 12 with his tee shot. Looks like the two-time winner has navigated the worst of Amen Corner adroitly.
Sam Burns makes his par putt on 4! It’s a downhill 20-footer, with plenty of left-to-right swing … but he judges it perfectly! The ball drops and the extra spring in his step is obvious. He clings onto a share of the lead. But there’s no such luck for Bryson DeChambeau back on 1. His putt never looks like dropping, and that’s an unwelcome backwards step for a player with little room for error after yesterday’s underwhelming 76. He’s +5.
-5: Burns (4), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F), Rose (12)
-3: Hatton (14), Lowry (2), Day (2), Reed (1)
Sam Burns finds the bunker at the front of the par-three 4th. He whips out, hoping to use the slope across the green to bring his ball back close. But he goes too far, missing the tilt, his ball finishing up 20 feet past. Meanwhile there’s similar trouble afoot for Bryson DeChambeau, whose opening drive found a fairway bunker. Unable to reach the green with his second, he wedges his from 50 yards … 20 feet past the flag. A couple of big putts coming up.
Harry Hall is making his first start at the Masters, and the 28-year-old Englishman is desperate to hang around for the weekend. He’s just carded four birdies on the bounce, at 11, 12, 13 and 14, to bring himself all the way up the standings to +3. Plenty of story still to be told there, but at least he’s put himself back in position. The record for most consecutive birdies, since you didn’t ask, is seven, tied by Steve Pate (1999) and Tiger (2005). Johnny Miller (1975), Mark Calcavecchia (1992), David Toms (1998) and Tony Finau (2018) managed six.
Justin Rose fails to take advantage of his lucky break at 12. He putts up from the fringe, but overcooks it, the ball rolling six feet past, and the putt coming back kinks off to the left. That’s put a stop to his runaway momentum, though had his tee shot nestled in the flower bed, it could have been much worse.
-5: Burns (3), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F), Rose (12)
-3: Hatton (13), Lowry (1), Day (1), Reed (1)
The 2016 champion Danny Willett comes back in 33, with birdies at 13, 15 and 16. That’s a brave attempt to make the cut, having gone out in 40, all looking lost. But at +5 he might find himself a shot or two shy. It’s currently projected at +3. Then again, the course is only going to get harder and faster, so that cut may well move out. He’ll not be packing his bags quite yet.
Justin Rose makes his birdie putt at 11 to snatch a share of the lead. Then he pulls his tee shot at 12. The ball’s heading towards the bank of azaleas at the back left … but as it bounds towards trouble, caroms off a rake sitting by the bunker and back onto the fringe! When your luck’s in, it’s in. That’s a huge break. Meanwhile Scottie Scheffler makes his birdie at 10 as expected, while Shane Lowry opens with one at Tea Olive. It’s all happening!
-5: Rose (11), Burns (2), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F)
-3: Hatton (13), Lowry (1), Day (1), Reed
-2: Gotterup (12), Griffin (10), Scheffler (10), Kitayama (4), Schauffele
Chris Gotterup is making his Masters debut this week. If his Open Championship debut is anything to go by, field watch out. Gotterup finished third at Portrush, a week after winning the Scottish Open. He’s since added Tour wins in Hawaii and at the Phoenix Open, and is a hipsters’ choice for a dark-horse victory this week. Perhaps the only thing going against him is the fact that only Horton Smith (1934), Gene Sarazen (1935) and Fuzzy Zoeller (1979) have won the Masters on debut. But here we are, and he clips his tee shot at 12 to six feet, making the putt to move to join the group at -2.
Justin Rose is in the zone all right. He fires another dart, this time at 11, from 193 yards to four feet. Scottie Scheffler, a couple of groups behind on 10, replicates Rose’s approach of a few minutes earlier. He’ll have a great look at birdie from five feet, and despite his travails of the morning, could soon be just three shots off the lead!
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Tyrrell Hatton aims his tee shot at 12 straight at the flag. Eight feet shy. In goes the putt, and like his compatriot Rose, he’s in the zone right now. A third English champion, to follow in the footsteps of Nick Faldo and Danny Willett, is a very real possibility. Meanwhile par for Scottie Scheffler at 9, and the world number one turns in 37. He’s -1. Tell you what, there’s some talent grouped at the top of the Leader Board!
-5: Burns (1), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F), Rose (10)
-3: Hatton (12), Kitayama (3), Day, Reed
-2: Griffin (9), Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Scott (15), Gotterup (11), Spieth (10), Koepka (10), Scheffler (9), English (8), Reitan (3), Taylor (1), Fleetwood
Jordan Spieth has been leaving a few putts short today. He does so again, never giving his straight 10-footer at 10 a chance. Just the par. Brooks Koepka is much happier with his par, getting up and down from the bottom of the swale and gently rabbit-punching the air by way of restrained celebration. They’re both -1 … but Justin Rose cleans up to move to -4. He’s on a roll now. Worth waiting for!
Wyndham Clark shoots 68
A par up the last, and the 2023 US Open champion smiles warmly at a job well done. A fist bump with his caddie. He’ll be in a good position at the start of Moving Day, whatever happens from here on in.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-4: Clark (F)
-3: Rose (9), Kitayama (3), Day, Reed
-2: Hatton (11), Gotterup (10), Griffin (9), Lowry, Schauffele
From 164 yards on 10, Jordan Spieth lands his approach pin high. He’ll have a ten-footer across the green for par. One of the shots of the day. But that’s soon superseded by Justin Rose, who from 158 bounces his straight at the flag, the ball stopping three feet short. Brooks Koepka, the third member of the group and the closest in, lands his wedge from 142 yards onto the front of the green … but the slope takes the ball all the way back off it and down the swale front left. He’ll find himself short-sided from there.
Scottie Scheffler appears to have made his 18-foot eagle putt across 8 … but the ball slides off to the right on its final turn. Scheffler cocks his head back in irritation, yelping before tidying up for his birdie. At least he’s moving back in the right direction: he’s -1. BobMac meanwhile negotiates his way out from the trees down the left with a clever shot, wedging in high and using the contours of the green to bring him in to 15 feet. But having been given a read by Scheffler, he’s learned nowt: the ball dies to the right and that’s just par. He’d have probably taken that when watching that driver from the deck carve into deep trouble, but here we are now. He remains at +7.
Justin Rose makes no mistake with his birdie putt on 9. That’s two in three holes – it should really have been three in a row – but turning in 35 is a decent return after a sluggish start. He’s -3. Jordan Spieth manages to get up and down from the front of the green to scramble a fine par; he’s turning in 35 too, at -1. But Brooks Koepka can’t get up and down from the back, and that’s bogey. He completes the set of players turning in 35, and he’s -1 overall too.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-4: Clark (17)
-3: Rose (9), Kitayama (2), Day, Reed
-2: Hatton (10), Gotterup (9), Griffin (8), Lowry, Schauffele
Robert MacIntyre and Scottie Scheffler both take their frustrations out on their ball, blootering with great feeling from the centre of the 8th fairway. MacIntyre carves a driver off the deck into the trees down the left; Scheffler however lashes a fairway wood into the heart of the bowl-like green, from 277 yards to 18 feet, and he’ll have a good look for eagle!
Justin Rose has been trying to keep a lid on his frustrations all day. But he’s clearly on a rolling boil. Having missed a short birdie effort on 8, he has a full and frank exchange with his caddie over distances from the middle of the 9th fairway. Caddie stands his ground. Rose then clips his wedge from 141 yards to ten feet, and has the good grace to flash his looper a cheeky smile. Especially as Brooks Koepka then air-mails the green, while Jordan Spieth spins off the false front and back down the fairway.
Hats off to Bob MacIntyre. The 29-year-old from Oban effed, jeffed and toddler-tantied his way to an 80 yesterday, then opened this round with a fidgety double bogey. At +10, all looked lost. But he’s making a good fist of a comeback: birdies at 3 and 4, and now a long birdie putt across 7. He’s +7, in credit for his round today, and if he can pick up another couple of shots coming home, you never know. Either way, he’ll chalk this one up for experience.
Wyndham Clark makes his birdie putt on 16. He’s now four under for his round today, as is the aforementioned Tyrrell Hatton. Im Sung-jae had also reached that mark, only to bogey 18 to finish with a three-under 69. He’s the very early clubhouse leader at +1.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-4: Clark (16)
-3: Kitayama (1), Day, Reed
-2: Hatton (9), Rose (8), Koepka (8), Lowry, Schauffele
Wyndham Clark has been quiet since that birdie-birdie-birdie sequence early doors. But he’s sensationally sprung back into life. Birdie at 15, and we’ll update the Leader Board in a moment, because he’s just sent his tee shot at 16 to six feet. But for now, he’s -3. Meanwhile Tyrrell Hatton birdies 9, and he’s out in a flawless 32. He’s had a couple of birdie putts shave the hole, as well; so close to a front nine for the ages. It’s pretty good as it stands, to be fair. Hatton is -2.
Freddie Couples proves that lightning never strikes twice. In 1992 he famously did this en route to glory …
… but today the old champ’s tee shot at 12 topples back into the drink. Such a shame, as the 66-year-old living legend is currently hovering around the projected cut mark, just outside it at +5. He found the water twice at 15 yesterday, and now this. Expensive mistakes that will probably cost him weekend participation.
Brandon Holtz is 39, the current US Mid-Amateur champion, and currently 3,262nd in the world amateur golf rankings. He shot 81 yesterday, and going into his round today at +9, is almost certainly not going to make the cut for the weekend. And he’s having the time of his life. You’ll enjoy this piece by Andy Bull.
Quite a few players grouped on the shoulder of the leading pack. Still nearly two hours until Rory turns up for work.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (14), Rose (7), Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Rai (9), Hatton (8), Gotterup (7), Spieth (7), Koepka (7), Griffin (6), English (4), Li (4), Homa (3), Taylor, Fleetwood
Justin Rose hadn’t made a birdie since 15 yesterday. He’s had his close shaves and frustrations today, but just about kept a lid on it, and his patience has finally paid off. He rolls in a birdie putt from downtown at 7, and returns to -2. Meanwhile Jordan Spieth salvages par with a ten-footer, remaining at -1, but the third member of the group, Brooks Koepka, having sent his approach from the centre of the fairway into a bunker, can’t get up and down and drops his second stroke of the day. He’s back to -1.
Another bogey for Scottie Scheffler. He nearly pulls his approach at 5 into a bunker. It stops atop the shoulder, but then his chip from the fringe is woefully short. He can’t salvage the situation, a putt from six feet dying on the low side, and the two-time champion drops back to level par.
Aaron Rai keeps taking one step forward, one back. Birdie at 2 was cancelled out by bogey on 5; now he’s just followed birdie at 8 with a dropped shot at 9. He turns in 36 and remains -1. Meanwhile his compatriot Marco Penge, whose debut round yesterday started with a triple-bogey eight on 2, has come out flying today: the 27-year-old from Crawley, the current Spanish Open champion, has birdied 2 and 4 to spring back to +2.
Tyrrell Hatton continues to go along nicely. His third birdie of the day comes at 7, and he moves into red figures at -1. He’s in the zone, having come pretty close to making more birdies at 4, 5 and 6. But he’s not the hottest man out there today. That award currently goes to Im Sung-jae, the 2020 joint runner-up with Cameron Smith: the 28-year-old Korean has just birdied 11, 13, 15 and 16 to move to four under for his round, and level par overall.
It’s just not happening for Scottie Scheffler. He dumps his tee shot at 4 into the bunker guarding the front of the green, and is unable to get up and down. The bogey takes him back to -1. Meanwhile Brooks Koepka sends his tee shot at 6 over the flag to 15 feet, but only gives his birdie putt enough juice to cover 14-and-a-half of them. He remains at -2.
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“Gotta effing love Bobby Mac channelling his inner Logan Roy on the back nine yesterday,” begins Simon McMahon, who, rather like the late CEO of Waystar RoyCo, is a potty-mouthed child o’Dundee. “Never change, Bob. Wherever the cut falls, Bob will need to keep his emotions in check and shoot something low. I’m rooting for him, and though it seems 2026 is unlikely to be his year, a red-faced, sweary Scotsman from Oban wearing a green jacket at Augusta would be one of the great stories.”
And on that subject, let me cheer you with the news that MacIntyre has just carded back-to-back birdies, the latest the result of a 30-foot trundle across 4. He’s back where he started the day at +8.
Brooks Koepka is rolling back the years. He sends his approach at 5 from 200 yards to 15 feet, and carefully steers in the right-to-left slider. That’s a third birdie in four holes, and the five-time major winner, who has tied for second twice at Augusta (in 2019 and 2023), is in good nick and coming up hard on the rail.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (12), Koepka (5), Scheffler (3), Lowry, Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler isn’t quite bringing his best stuff. A drive at 2 that disappears down the banking to the left of the fairway. Just par on the historically easiest hole on the course. Then a lacklustre chip into 3. The birdie putt uncharacteristically timid, and that’s just a par-par-par start for the world number one. Hardly a disaster, and he remains at -2, but slow starts have dogged him this season, and he won’t want to pass by too many more scoring opportunities, and give up too much ground to the leaders.
Jon Rahm went round without making a single birdie yesterday, en route to his 78. But he’s trying his best to repair the damage of a six-over round. Birdie at 2, followed by a tramliner across 5, and the 2023 champion is back to +4. It’s way too early to be certain, but that takes him just inside the projected cut. That’s oscillating between +3 and +4 at the moment, mind you, and is bound to change quite a bit as the day goes on. Almost certainly moving out. But Rahm will now have hope after yesterday’s fiasco.
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Justin Rose’s tee shot at 4 deserves birdie. But it doesn’t lead to one. It’s a fairly straight putt from seven feet … but not completely straight, and it slips off to the right. Rose flings his putter in the air in frustration, then fails to catch it as he falls. Some hurried repair work with his pitchfork. All good again. But he remains at -1, alongside Brooks Koepka, who can’t make his 25-foot birdie putt, and Jordan Spieth, much more content after getting up and down from the sand.
Another birdie putt for Tyrrell Hatton; another lip-out, this time at 5. A couple of millimetres here, another couple there, and the 34-year-old Englishman would have had four consecutive birdies. But as it is, he stays at level par. Meanwhile disaster for Gary Woodland at 2. He sends a fairway wood through the trees down the right of the hole, and can only punch out. He then underhits a wedge into a bunker, and he can’t get up and down. A double-bogey seven on a par five, and he’s back to +1 overall.
The par-three 4th is a different proposition today. Just 178 yards yesterday; 231 now. Brooks Koepka pushes his tee shot slightly, but the ball lands on the right-hand side of the green and the camber takes him round to 25 feet. Jordan Spieth dumps his ball in the bunker at the front. Justin Rose’s effort is the best of the lot, a high draw over the flag to seven feet. Difficult to sense whether this three-ball will inspire each other to great heights, or drag each other down. It’s strangely in the balance right now, the slim margins of Masters golf.
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Wyndham Clark drops his first stroke of the day. He misses the 10th green to the right, finding the big bunker. His wedge out flies past the hole and only just holds the green; the putt coming back is always breaking to the left. Meanwhile Brooks Koepka wedges to seven feet at 3, and makes his birdie putt. He joins his partners Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth at -1, the former hitting another careless chip, the latter missing another makeable birdie putt. Rose especially showing signs of frustration, bordering on full-blown irritation. His mood only registering 1.5 out of 10 on our patented BobMacometer™, though.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (10), Scheffler (1), Lowry, Schauffele
The LIV crew haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory so far this week. Tyrrell Hatton is however trying his best to address that issue. Birdies at 2 and 3, and after yesterday’s undercooked 74, he moves back to level par for the Tournament. Then at the par-three 4th, he’s a couple of millimetres away from making it three in a row, tickling a left-to-right slider downhill from 15 feet, the ball slipping agonisingly by on its last rotation. That was a fine effort.
Disappointing pars for Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth at 2. Both miss short-ish but missable birdie putts, Rose as the result of a heavy-handed chip, Spieth not committing to a 35-foot eagle chance. Birdie for Brooks Koepka, though. Rose and Spieth remain at -1, Koepka moves back to level par.
Scheffler tickles a downhill 15-footer to within an inch of dropping. Opening par. Same for Woodland, whose easier, fairly straight 12-footer across the green dies to the left on its last turn. But MacIntyre skulls his sand shot, the ball trundling 40 feet past. Three putts later, that’s an ugly double-bogey to start. He’s +10 and let’s put this week down as a learning process. Meanwhile Wyndham Clark pars 9 to hit the turn in 33. He remains -3.
Scheffler and Woodland take turns to throw darts at the pin on 1. MacIntyre, perhaps mindful that he needs a super-low number today if he’s to somehow survive, also goes for the flag but pulls his approach, and he’ll be shortsided in the bunker.
The world number one Scottie Scheffler is out and about. He doesn’t quite catch his opening drive, and peers after it quizzically, but while it’s shorter than usual, it’s straight. Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland follow him down. MacIntyre gets a good reception from the gallery, despite yesterday’s toddler-style tanty, flashing a middle finger at the pond on 15 which had just snaffled two of his balls, and burying the hosel of his club into the ground at 17. No news yet as to whether or not the Augusta National suits have given him a clip round the lug. Perhaps they think a round of 80 was punishment enough.
A disappointing three-putt par for Wyndham Clark at the par-five 8th. Having found the heart of the bowl-shaped green in two, he races his 50-foot eagle putt 11 feet past, and gets a bit over-excited with the one coming back, too, knocking that a couple of feet past. He tidies up to stay at -3, but that’s a big chance spurned.
Justin Rose’s ball has found the tree line all right. His backswing is hampered by an awkward loblolly. So he does exceptionally well to punch a low shot under the branches, through the green, and just off the back. But he leaves his putt from the fringe eight feet short, and can’t make the par saver. That’s three bogeys in a row, if we’re counting the denouement to last night’s round, which we surely must. Bogey for Brooks Koepka, too, as he’s unable to read a putt with a 20-foot right-to-left break correctly. But it’s a birdie for Jordan Spieth, who walks in a straight-ish 15-footer after finding the heart of the green. Koepka drops to +1; Spieth and Rose are both -1, but one is much happier about it than the other.
Justin Rose was running “a little hot” after bogeying 17 and 18 last night. He’s not 100 percent happy with his opening drive today, either, sending it dangerously close to the tree line down the right. His playing partners Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka are also out of position. Not the most auspicious start for the marquee group of the morning. Rose starts the day at -2; Spieth and Koepka at level par.
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Birdie for Aaron Rai at 2! The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton, now based in Florida, gets up and down from sand at the front to move to -2. The winner of the Par 3 Contest has to double up with a Green Jacket at some point, it’s surely in the post, we’re overdue statistically, 66 years and counting. So why not this year?
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Clark (6), Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Rai (2), Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
Wyndham Clark’s birdie putt at 6 looks good. A straight roll. But it drifts a little to the right just before reaching the cup, enough to kink out. That really did look like it was going in. So he remains at -3 for both his round and the Tournament overall. He’s no longer the only player out there in red for his round today: Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020, birdies 7 and 8 to move into credit today – he’s +3 overall – while the old trooper Freddie Couples birdies 2 to get back to +5. Such a shame about that hideous run at 15, 16 and 17 yesterday - quadruple bogey, double bogey, double bogey – but you can forgive a 66-year-old for running out of gas under the heat of the late-afternoon sun.
The Par 3 Contest winner Aaron Rai starts his second round calmly and confidently. Tea Olive found in regulation, and a long birdie putt that shaves the hole. He remains at -1 after yesterday’s 71, a round that promised more after going out in 33. Meanwhile Wyndham Clark’s run of consecutive birdies comes to an end at 5. Just a par, though he’s now landed his tee shot at 6 into the heart of the green, using the slope to bring his ball towards the flag tucked away front left. He’ll have a good look at birdie from 18 feet, a putt not exactly flat and straight, but as flat and straight as they come around here.
At the risk of belabouring the point, here’s a bit more on how difficult Augusta National is playing this week. As mentioned earlier, yesterday’s scoring average was 74.65, just over two-and-a-half shots over par. That’s the highest first-day average since 2017 (74.98) although we did get more sub-70 rounds yesterday than we did on Thursday nine years ago: five to two. Though how much attention our defending champion and co-leader Rory McIlroy will pay to all this is moot: he shot 72 in the first round in 2017, but 67 yesterday. Golf is almost as difficult to analyse as it is to play.
Clark is the only player out this morning under par for his round so far. A small sample size, but one that nevertheless suggests low scores will come at a premium today. To illustrate: Tom McKibbin, whose Masters debut isn’t going to plan. The 23-year-old from Belfast shot 75 yesterday, and he’s opened this morning with three bogeys and a double in his first five holes. He’s clattered down the standings to +8, and isn’t the only player from the LIV tour to be struggling this week: none of the tour’s ten representatives broke par yesterday, with their big guns Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm shooting 76 and 78 respectively, two of the pre-Tournament favourites as good as out of the running already.
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It’s three birdies in a row for 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark! On a roll, he cracks his tee shot at the long par-three 4th pin high, to eight feet, and walks in the putt. The late-blooming 32-year-old from Denver tied for fourth at last year’s Open, so he’s trending in the majors, albeit with a nine-month hiatus, but he’s not got a good record at Augusta National: one missed cut and a tie for 46th. Looks like he’s in the mood to right that particular wrong.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Clark (4), Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
It promises to be a glorious day at Augusta National. Sunny and dry, with temperatures set to reach 80 degrees by the afternoon. Not too much in the way of wind. It’ll be more of the same during the weekend, so expect conditions to get tougher and tougher as the course gets harder and faster. Given that yesterday’s scoring average was 74.65, already up nearly two strokes from last year’s average of 72.81, we could be in for plenty of high jinks on Sunday afternoon. Cannot wait.
The first adjustment towards the top of today’s Leader Board comes courtesy of the 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark. He birdies 2, wedging over the bunker guarding the right of the green to a couple of feet and tidying up. He follows that up by finding the dancefloor of the elevated green at 3 in regulation, then steering in the right-to-left 12-footer that remains. A birdie-birdie blast, and Clark moves confidently into red figures.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (3), Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Rai, Bridgeman, Woodland, Li, Taylor, Fleetwood
… also, before we head out onto the course, it’s probably best if we grab ourselves a snack. How about one of these new dark-milk chocolate bars with caramel and rice crispies? CANDY BAR: the only Soviet-branded candy with a hazelnut crunch! Horseshoe theory enthusiasts will be delighted to see the late-stage capitalism of the USA swinging all the way around towards a socialist idyll. Just $2.25. Sounds delicious, get me two.
While we wait for the meaningful action to begin, let’s whack on a tune. Now then, “CBS” + “music” = Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen. It also equals this. All together now (for it has lyrics) …
Well it’s springtime in the valley on Magnolia Lane
It’s the Augusta National and the master of the game
Who’ll wear that green coat on Sunday afternoon?
Who’ll walk the 18th fairway singing this tune?
Augusta, your dogwoods and pines
They play on my mind like a song
Augusta, it’s you that I love
And it’s you that I’ll miss when I’m gone.
It’s Watson, Byron Nelson, Demaret, Player and Snead
It’s Amen Corner and it’s Hogan’s perfect swing
It’s Sarazen’s double eagle at the 15 in ‘35
And the spirit of Clifford Roberts that keeps it alive
Augusta, your dogwoods and pines
They play on my mind like a song
Augusta, it’s you that I love
And it’s you that I miss when I’m gone
It’s the legions of Arnie’s Army and the Golden Bear’s throngs
And the wooden-shafted legend of Bobby Jones.
Preamble
“What are we all going to talk about next year?” Yes, well, Rory’s keeping his riff alive, isn’t he? It’s a good while today until the defending champ turns up for work, mind you, so in the meantime, here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked after 18 holes …
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Lowry, Schauffele, Rose, Scheffler
-1: Li, Taylor, Fleetwood, Campbell, Rai, Bridgeman, Woodland
… and here’s the Friday running order. Some pre-Tournament favourites in Ludvig Åberg (+2), Bryson DeChambeau (+4) and Jon Rahm (+6) need to get their gamefaces on and quick.
Today’s tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST)
1240 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sam Stevens
1250 Brian Campbell, Tom McKibbin (NIrl), Andrew Novak
1302 Wyndham Clark, (a) Mateo Pulcini (Arg), Mike Weir (Can)
1314 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Zach Johnson, Michael Kim
1326 (a) Ethan Fang, Davis Riley, Danny Willett (Eng)
1338 Daniel Berger, Brian Harman, Adam Scott (Aus)
1350 Fred Couples, (a) Pongsapak Laopakdee (Tha), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)
1402 Jacob Bridgeman, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng)
1419 Michael Brennan, Corey Conners (Can), Harry Hall (Eng)
1431 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Maverick McNealy, JJ Spaun
1443 Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Chris Gotterup, Jon Rahm (Spa)
1455 Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose (Eng), Jordan Spieth
1507 Ben Griffin, Sepp Straka (Aut), Justin Thomas
1519 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Scottie Scheffler, Gary Woodland
1531 Harris English, Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Marco Penge (Eng)
1551 Johnny Keefer, Haotong Li (Chn)
1603 Max Homa, Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
1615 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa)
1627 Angel Cabrera (Arg), (a) Jackson Herrington, Sami Valimaki (Fin)
1639 Ryan Fox (Nzl), Max Greyserman, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
1651 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Matt McCarty, Vijay Singh (Fij)
1703 Casey Jarvis (Rsa), Kurt Kitayama, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor)
1715 Nicolas Echavarria (Col), (a) Brandon Holtz, Bubba Watson
1732 Sam Burns, Jake Knapp, Cameron Smith (Aus)
1744 Keegan Bradley, Ryan Gerard, Nick Taylor (Can)
1756 Jason Day (Aus), Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry (Irl)
1808 Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Patrick Reed
1820 Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele
1832 Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa
1844 (a) Mason Howell, Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Cameron Young
1856 Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Alexander Noren (Swe)
