6 days Ago
AUGUSTA -- Justin Rose is right where he wants to be midway through the 89th Masters Tournament. OK, maybe not exactly where he wants to be. Surely he'd rather already have the green jacket locked up, ahead by so much that the next two days at Augusta National Golf Club would feel like a casual weekend at his home club.
But for Rose, the 44-year-old Englishman looking for his first major title since the 2013 U.S. Open, this is what he's been looking for.
To get back to where it's not just a feelgood story for the old man trying to keep up with the young hotshots. Better yet, they're all trying to keep up with him. Rose leads by a shot at 8 under as the Masters heads to the weekend, and an absolutely loaded leaderboard full of the world's best lurks closely nearby.
Just like Rose would like. "Yeah, you know, that's the company that I expect to keep, and that's where I have tried to be my whole career," Rose said after he followed up his opening-round 65 with a 1-under 71. "That's where I've been for a lot of my career.
So I've been a Top-10 player in the world for a decade or more. So yeah, this is nice to, obviously, yeah, be back in that mix, a hundred percent." It was a much grittier Friday after a graceful Thursday, with Rose getting up-and-down time after time to save crucial pars to hang onto the 36-hole lead.
Now the fun can truly begin. Bryson DeChambeau (68) is a shot back, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy (66) is back in good spirits and tied with Corey Conners (70) two behind, and defending champion and world No.
1 Scottie Scheffler (71) is part of a quartet three shots off the lead. In all, 15 players are within five shots of Rose heading into round three, and there are plenty more contenders not far behind that. Patience was at a premium Friday for Rose and anyone else looking to be near the top of the leaderboard, especially those playing later in the day as the winds gusted around Augusta National.
DeChambeau is continuing his career renaissance that produced a U.S. Open title at McIlroy's expense last summer, and he continues to prove that the "New Bryson" can overcome the pressure-packed situations that used to get the better of him.
Last year's 18-hole leader and 36-hole co-leader, DeChambeau has again played his way into a final pairing at Augusta National. "I think it's staying grounded. Like I think of myself as just being here in the present," he said.
"I know it's so cliché to say, but patience is built on understanding where you're at. And I feel like I'm doing a really good job of just staying in the moment, not thinking about the next hole, not thinking about the putt, not thinking about anything else. Just saying, 'Hey, I'm right here, right now.
What do I need to do give myself the best chance to make birdie or par out there,' whatever it is. When I get a little nervous, I go, 'OK, it's just a golf shot. Come on, focus, do it like you've always done it.
' And that's kind of what I say to myself." The penultimate pairing will feature Conners, who over the last few years has shown the potential to be a perennial Masters contender, and McIlroy, still searching for that green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam. It looked like another self-destructive Thursday may have closed the book early again for McIlroy, but three birdies and an eagle in a six-hole stretch on the back nine left him with his sixth career bogey-free round at the Masters and more than happy to stick around and answer questions after eschewing that opportunity the day before.
"I think overall just proud of myself with how I responded today after the finish last night," said McIlroy, who double-bogeyed 15 and 17 on Thursday to drop from 4 under to even-par. "I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday, and you know, I wasn't going to let two - you know, two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week. But yeah, just ultimately, yeah, just proud of how I got back into it today.
" The group at 5 under includes lefty Matt McCarty, a Masters rookie who made eight birdies in a round of 68; 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry, who made just one bogey in his 68; Tyrrell Hatton (70), who has made 10 birdies already this week despite battling an unruly putter; and Scheffler, who's looking to become just the fourth player to go back-to-back here and join Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win three in four years. Scheffler was part of the later wave of starting times, and he wrestled with the wind all afternoon to make six birdies and five bogeys a day after a bogey-free 68. "Golf is a funny game," he said.
"It's a day-to-day thing. Yesterday I felt really sharp. Today not as sharp.
Could the conditions have contributed to that? I'm sure a little bit. 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.
Sometimes I did a good job of that. Other times today, maybe not so good." The cut line was 2 over, with 14 players - past champions Jon Rahm (71) and Jordan Spieth (73) among them - making it on the number.
Two-time champion Bernhard Langer (73) missed the cut by a shot in his 41st and final Masters appearance. Fred Couples (77), the 1992 champion making his 40th Masters start, missed by two. Other past champions to miss the cut were Dustin Johnson at 3 over, Sergio Garcia at 4 over and Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott at 5 over.
The most cruel cut of all came when Brooks Koepka (75) made a quadruple-bogey 8 on 18 to miss the cut by three shots. But now it's on to the weekend, with everyone chasing Rose, a solo 36-hole leader for the third time (2004, 2021) in his Masters career. He said it doesn't feel like it's been a dozen years since his last major victory, with an Olympic gold medal, FedEx Cup title and world No.
1 ranking helping fill in the gaps. To him, it doesn't matter whether a title here comes in his 40s as opposed to his 20s, but he certainly wouldn't turn it down Sunday. "I think I'll take it any time," he said, his smile growing across his face.
"Beggars can't be choosers, you know? But I would take it right now, for sure. Sometimes if it happens too early in your career, you've got a lot to live up to. I think if it happens now, I would enjoy it, I think, probably a lot more.
You know, come a bit more as a gift towards the end of your career. So I think there would be a lot more satisfaction in it for sure.".
