File photo of South Korean Byeong Hun An who produced two late birdies to enter the top 10 at the Masters Tournament in Augusta on Friday. Image courtesy PGA Tour/Getty Images.
By Rahul Banerji
Overnight leader Bryson DeChambeau stayed atop the 88th Masters standings where he was joined by 2022 winner Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday.
Sharing headline space was Tiger Woods, who broke a three-way tie with South African legend Gary Player and good friend Fred Couples to make his 24th cut in a row at the event, to add to the 142 in a row achieved earlier on the PGA Tour.
In winds that gusted up to 35 miles an hour at times, 59 professionals and one amateur made the cut at 6-over 150 from a field of 84 professionals and five amateurs.
It was the highest elimination mark at a major since the 2020 US Open (+6) and highest at the Masters since 2017 (also 6 over par 150), the PGA Tour said.
Down the order, South Korean Byeong Hun An was hanging on to dear life and anything that he could, including his cap, on another wind-swept day at the tournament.
A fighting 1 over 73 in the second round meant he also found himself hanging onto the co-leaders coattails in tied eighth place, with the coveted green jacket still firmly in his sights.
On Friday Woods carded a 72 to sit on 1 over 145 in tied 22nd, just seven back of the leaders after an opening 1 over 73 having played 23 holes on the day, a testament to his grit and determination.
Hanging in
“I’m here,” he said after grinding his way to a level par round. “I have a chance to win the golf tournament.”
At the top, Dechambeau (65-73), Scheffler (66-72) and Homa (67-71) were on 6 under par 138, needing to survive tricky conditions and tough pin positions on greens that picked up pace during the course of a sunny day.
Winds blew at a near-constant 15-20 mph gusting up to 35 mph at times, and only eight players were able to bring in sub-par scores. Eight others shot 80 or more with a number of big names making an exit from the year’s first major.
Amongst those left on the sidelines after the cut were Sergio Garcia (72-79), Dustin Johnson (78-79), Jordan Speith (79-74), Justin Thomas (72-79) and Viktor Hovland (71-81) as conditions ruthlessly brutalised reputations.
Steady progress
Indian-Americans Akshay Bhatia (72-75, 3 over 147) in tied 30th place and Sahith Theegala (74-74, 4 over 148) in shared 35th alongside the likes of Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy made it through to the weekend rounds, the latter needing to survive an early meltdown that resulted in a triple-bogey.
The young man whose roots lie in Telangana was by no means the only one to suffer such a fate as Speith had a horrendous quadruple-bogey nine in his incomplete first round that effectively scuppered the 2015 champion’s hopes.
An, 32, produced two late birdies at Augusta National to stay in the title fight at the year’s first major and will enter the weekend five shots back of the leaders.
“I thought yesterday was hard until I played it today, and it felt harder,” said An, who stands at 1 under 143 with six others. “I think the wind was a little stronger today. My hat wasn’t staying on my head for a couple of the holes.”
It got so hard that An, who is making his fifth Masters start and his first since 2020, felt he could have easily made bogeys in each of his back nine holes, especially when he had three in a row from the ninth.
A combination of measured shots and some lucky bounces saw him make critical birdies on holes 13 and 16, where he chipped in from 33 yards off an awkward lie.
Tricky stretch
“The back nine got very tricky. I got very lucky on a few shots, lucky bounces here and there, and then I don’t know how I shot even par on the back. That’s pretty impressive,” said An, whose best Masters finish was T33 in 2017.
“It’s not a joy at all, not fun playing in these conditions. Definitely a battle out there. It’s a grind. There’s no easy holes.
“I could have made eight, nine bogeys in a row on the back nine, not because I was playing poorly but just the conditions. Somehow I scrambled well to shoot even par on the back.
“Just have to hit a shot and accept every outcome that you get out of this wind and move on to the next hole because it’s such a difficult golf course to scramble around. I felt like I did that pretty good today.”
A Masters winner in 2021, Matsuyama, and Koreans Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim and Si Woo Kim made the 36-hole cut right on the number while Masters debutant Ryo Hisatsune and Sungjae Im failed to advance into the weekend.
Also read: DeChambeau holds Masters clubhouse lead, An is leading Asian
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