Halfway home at Augusta National and the leaderboard is not stacked with the pre-tournament favorites.

However, Trevor Immelman continued his stellar play and through 36 holes has found sole possession of first place, taking a one stroke lead over Brandt Snedeker. When asked about his round, Immelman replied, "My play today probably wasn’t as sharp as yesterday, but I really did hole some unbelievable putts out there. You know, so that was really satisfying to see some long ones drop." For Immelman, just playing in The Masters is a blessing. Last year, doctors found a benign tumor on his diaphragm which was surgically removed.

Co-leader Justin Rose struggled throughout his round. Bogies on 5 and 9 had him falling behind Immelman. As he came to the fifteenth, he still had Immelman in his sights when he hit his layup. Rose hit his layup too far down the par-5 leaving himself an awkward yardage and a steep downhill lie. Rose caught his approach shot heavy and it found the pond in front of the fifteenth green. His next shot sailed over the back of the green and by the time he had putted out, he had used eight strokes and all hope of contending on the weekend. Rose said, "A 20-second lapse in concentration, in hindsight I should have gone for the green. But one of those things, I laid up way too close to that green, and the way they grow the grain into you, I had a bit of a tricky lie and no yardage at all."

Rose admitted to struggling with his concentration being in the final group and shooting a 78 which has him ten shots behind the leader. "It was such a long round. Coming in last is tough and there’s a lot of noise going on. That’s what I found really tough coming in. I don’t know if I didn’t quite work my way around, but I was struggling out there. It was a tough finish."

Phil Mickelson made an early charge. His bogey free 68 has him in prime position for a weekend charge, "At least I’m working in the right direction, but I got a long ways to go and there’s a bunch, a few players ahead of me and there’s a bunch of strong players right behind me. I think it’s going to be an exciting weekend," said Phil.

Tiger Woods struggled with his long game today. Although he hit quite a few greens, he frequently found himself unable to make an aggressive putt. When asked about his chances on the weekend, Woods said, "I’ve got to make a few more birdies and eliminate the mistakes, hit the ball a little bit closer than I have. You’ve just got to stay patient. I mean, this golf course, anything can happen. You can come back pretty quickly here." If Woods is able to come back from the seven shot deficit, he will be the first player ever to overcome that many shots on the weekend to win.

 One player whom will be sorely missed over the weekend is Fred Couples. After a first round at +4, Fred Couples missed the cut at The Masters for the first time in 23 years, remaining tied with Gary Player. Couples came to the 18th at +4, knowing he likely needed a birdie to play the weekend. Couples hit the fairway, and a stellar approach, but his birdie putt just missed the hole, and with it his consecutive cut streak. Couples left saying, "Even as well as I played last week, you know, I think I set my sights a little high yesterday and I went out and I struggled and I tried to hit better shots than I could, and I went from 2-over to 3-over to 4-over, and you’re kind of done. So going out today my goal was certainly to make this cut… But I don’t know anyone who goes to a tournament where they’re hoping to make the cut. I’m not going to make it; I’m kind of disappointed in that."