Tour News
5 Things We Learned from Day 2 at the Masters
There was no shortage of matters to talk about at the Masters on Day 2, although the main storyline (Jordan Spieth dominating the field), remained the same.
We’ll get right into what we observed from Friday at the Masters.
This Masters might be more (and less) anticlimactic than last year’s
The 21-year-old Spieth went out on the second day and fired a flawless bogey-free 6-under 66 to stretch his lead to five going into the weekend, almost matching the six-stroke 36-hole leads Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods posted at the 2011 and 2000 U.S. Opens, respectively. At one point, Spieth was actually six ahead and nine clear of third place, but he’s probably quite fine with this diminished but still formidable margin.
Unfortunately, that leaves viewers with a tournament that might easily be over with 36 holes to go, kind of like last year’s U.S. Open. If you recall, the 2014 Masters was plagued by a Sunday back nine that lacked drama, as Bubba Watson ultimately held a comfortable three- or four-shot margin throughout that time.
We might be in for an even bigger snoozer with Spieth out so far ahead.
Yet, the fact that it is Spieth miles in front may make the tournament more dramatic. Golf fans like to see history, and enjoy when the sport’s superstars decimate fields. Woods and McIlroy have proven that in the past that fans will become fascinated over just how large their margins of victory will be, and Spieth likely falls in this category with his young age and the fact he has already flashed so much superstar potential.
Maybe it just depends on what angle you take here. Whatever the case, the Masters may see a blowout this year but many eyes will still be watching.
An Easier Augusta National is Still Hilariously Frustrating
The past few years, the winning score at Augusta hasn’t vacillated much, falling into the 8- to 10-under category, but we’ll almost certainly see a lower winning score for the 2015 edition with a 14-under lead and four more 7-under or better with 36 holes to go.
Still, even in an easier year, Augusta is so full of nuances that players’ frustration levels still constantly boil over.
We saw some humorous examples on Friday.
There was Bubba’s bafflement over a putt on No. 15:
Who wouldn’t want to help this guy in a fight? pic.twitter.com/CCarJMFKmX
— Trevor Reaske (@TrevorReaske) April 10, 2015
Then, we have Billy Horschel screaming into his hat after his birdie effort on No. 13 nastily lipped out (Horschel would shoot 78 and miss the cut):
And of course, Henrik Stenson, who finished 2-over to make the cut on the number, breaking his club following his third shot approach finding the water on No. 15:
Henrik Stenson is not pleased. pic.twitter.com/0wzYkvTY0N
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) April 10, 2015
Major championship pressure is also apparent, with this beauty from Justin Rose (WHO IS PLAYING REALLY WELL AND IS IN THIRD PLACE):
Don’t be fooled. Augusta is gettable, but as easy as ever to rack up bad scores in a hurry.
Ask Rory McIlroy, who posted a solid 71, but only after turning in a baffling front-nine 40 on Friday. Reminder: He’s the No. 1 player in the world.
The Masters is getting more backlash than ever for its limited coverage
OK, this kind of started yesterday with USA Today’s Chris Chase lamenting the Masters’ 3 p.m. ET television start time over the first two days. Golf Digest followed suit in its Thursday “Birdies and Bogeys” section.
But it picked up steam on Friday, as mutliple outlets complained about the late TV start time phenomenon again. It didn’t help that NONE of Spieth’s epic second round appeared live on television.
And others were totally perplexed as to why the featured groups section of the Masters’ early online coverage did not include Tiger Woods as he played his second round before ESPN went to air.
The problem of limited Masters coverage is certainly nothing new, which these sources well know (some might not have realized though that the Masters featured group section has ignored Woods’ and Mickelson’s morning rounds for years now).
It appears, though, that the media and likely the public have reached a boiling point on this issue. Tradition is considered sacred on the grounds of Augusta, but this is something people aren’t buying — or are more willing than ever to publicly flog rather than sit back and moan about privately.
Hopefully, the Green Jackets take notice. But probably not.
The Par-Fives are still massively important
Dustin Johnson is the first man ever with 3 eagles in a Masters round. He cards a 67 and is in 3rd place at -7. pic.twitter.com/3DOwnvccei
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 10, 2015
Yeah, not a big surprise here, but it is startling just how well some of the top names on the leaderboard abused the par-5s on Friday.
Mickelson and Kevin Na both played these holes in 3-under on Friday, catalysts to their rounds that went well into the 60s. Ernie Els birdied all four par-5s to offset four bogeys and come in at 72 for a two-day 5-under total, and Spieth matched the Big Easy’s accomplishment on the long holes.
And Dustin Johnson flat out murdered the par-5s, producing three eagles and a birdie on the long holes en route to a second-round 67 and a spot in one of Saturday’s final groups.
You don’t need to play the par-5s terrifically at Augusta to win, but it’s certainly quite beneficial.
Tiger has still got it (to some degree)
The concept of Woods being “back” is pretty fluid and depends on any one person’s definition, but his play in the first two days is far more impressive than anybody predicted.
Woods is just two months removed from a ghastly performance in Phoenix where his chipping became the source of a debate over whether the 39-year-old had the short game yips.
Yet, his play around the greens on Thursday may have saved his round, and while his short game was more up and down on Friday, Woods posted a second-day 69 to head into the week 2-under and in the top 20.
For a guy just months removed from this, and who hadn’t played competitive golf in about 60 days, that’s a remarkable 36 holes.
Even from just two rounds of play, Woods has shown there is still plenty left in the tank. With McIlroy and now Spieth rising to the fore from the young group, that’s a pretty exciting statement.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.
As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.
General Albums
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Thorbjorn Olesen – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ben Silverman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jesse Droemer – SoTX PGA Section POY – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Martin Trainer – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Zac Blair – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Trace Crowe – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Daniel Berger – WITB(very mini) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Chesson Hadley – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Callum McNeill – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Rhein Gibson – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Patrick Fishburn – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Raul Pereda – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
Pullout Albums
- Tom Hoge’s custom Cameron – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Piretti putters – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ping putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Kevin Dougherty’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Bettinardi putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Tony Finau’s new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Philip
Apr 11, 2015 at 12:36 am
I just don’t see the problem with not showing Woods, Mickelson or any particular golfer who may or may not be hot. There are a lot of players to watch and I enjoy seeing everything and not just the greens like a lot of other tournaments. I tune in to the Masters to watch the Masters, not any one golfer. Especially for the first two days. Now on the weekend I expect to see the leaders. As far as Spieth walking away with the tournament – it is far too early to even be thinking it. He can easily stall tomorrow or sunday.
T
Apr 10, 2015 at 11:46 pm
Well written, thanks!
other paul
Apr 10, 2015 at 8:54 pm
Very impressed with Tigers turn around. I am not really a fan, but I hope things get better for him.