AUGUSTA, Ga. — We are at the dawn of Moving Day of The Masters Tournament, and the 36-hole leaderboard is chock-full of stars, major champions, and household names.
Justin Rose, who fired a 7-under 65 on Thursday, teetered to a 1-under 71 on Friday morning but still holds the lead at 8-under overall. But his three-shot advantage from Thursday has turned into a slim one. Can the 44-year-old Englishman continue to sit atop the famous white leaderboards all around Augusta National? That’s one of the pressing questions of the third round.
Reigning U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau fired a 68 on Friday, his second straight round in the 60s — the only player to post a pair of sub-70 rounds so far. DeChambeau sits one stroke behind Rose at 7-under and after his second round, he summed up his day — and the tournament so far — perfectly:
“What golf is about,” DeChambeau said.
“Very excited for the weekend. Got a lot of great names up there, and looking forward to an unbelievable test of golf.”
Indeed, this tournament is what golf is all about. Fun and excitement, but also challenging and intense, all fit the billing for how the Masters has played out so far — and we can only hope this continues over the final 36 holes. But considering how this leaderboard looks right now, we can only assume that will be the case.
Sitting one stroke behind DeChambeau is Rory McIlroy, who fired a 6-under 66 on Friday to vault back into the discussion. McIlroy stayed patient during his second round, which helped him make a Second Nine charge and post the lowest round of the day.
“We’ve got 36 holes to go on a very, very tough golf course,” McIlroy said.
“Anything can happen. You know, and all I’m focused on is trying to hit a good tee shot in the fairway on the first hole tomorrow.
Also at 6-under is Canadian Corey Conners, who will join McIlroy in the penultimate pairing on Saturday afternoon. The former Kent State standout has three top-10s at Augusta National throughout his career, but hopes to do better than that this weekend.
“Never like to get too far ahead of myself, but it would be — it’s a big deal to win majors, especially the Masters Tournament. Probably the biggest golf tournament in the world. Remember where I was watching Mike [Weir] win in 2003,” Conners said.
“And it’s an exciting opportunity, and just going to try and have fun, and we’ll see what happens over the weekend.”
And then, of course, is perhaps the scariest of them all: Scottie Scheffler, the best player in the world and the defending champion, is at 5-under par, trailing Rose by three. But Scheffler did not have his best stuff with him on Friday, perhaps due to the winds that picked up as the afternoon wore on.
“Golf is a funny game. It’s a day-to-day thing. [On Thursday] I felt really sharp. [Friday] not as sharp. Could the conditions have contributed to that? I’m sure a little bit,” Scheffler said.
“It was definitely much harder to hit the ball where you were looking today, just because the wind was blowing from everywhere. That’s what’s great about this golf course is it’s quite challenging, and you get winds like that, you’ve really got to manage your expectations, manage yourself around the course.”
Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, Irishman Shane Lowry, and Masters rookie Matt McCarty also sit at 5-under par, all hoping to win their first Green Jackets. Hatton and Lowry certainly have the game to do so, but can they keep their emotions in check on these complicated green complexes? Or could McCarty become the first debutant to win a Green Jacket since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979?
Who knows. But the only thing we know is that Saturday will be fun once again — what golf is all about.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
