Quite a few players grouped on the shoulder of the leading pack,Still nearly two hours until Rory turns up for work,-5: Burns, McIlroy -3: Kitayama, Day, Reed -2: Clark (14), Rose (7), Lowry, Schauffele -1: Rai (9), Hatton (8), Gotterup (7), Spieth (7), Koepka (7), Griffin (6), English (4), Li (4), Homa (3), Taylor, FleetwoodJustin Rose hadn’t made a birdie since 15 yesterday,He’s had his close shaves and frustrations today, but just about kept a lid on it, and his patience has finally paid off,He rolls in a birdie putt from downtown at 7, and returns to -2.

Meanwhile Jordan Spieth salvages par with a ten-footer, remaining at -1, but the third member of the group, Brooks Koepka, having sent his approach from the centre of the fairway into a bunker, can’t get up and down and drops his second stroke of the day.He’s back to -1.Another bogey for Scottie Scheffler.He nearly pulls his approach at 5 into a bunker.It stops atop the shoulder, but then his chip from the fringe is woefully short.

He can’t salvage the situation, a putt from six feet dying on the low side, and the two-time champion drops back to level par.Aaron Rai keeps taking one step forward, one back.Birdie at 2 was cancelled out by bogey on 5; now he’s just followed birdie at 8 with a dropped shot at 9.He turns in 36 and remains -1.Meanwhile his compatriot Marco Penge, whose debut round yesterday started with a triple-bogey eight on 2, has come out flying today: the 27-year-old from Crawley, the current Spanish Open champion, has birdied 2 and 4 to spring back to +2.

Tyrrell Hatton continues to go along nicely,His third birdie of the day comes at 7, and he moves into red figures at -1,He’s in the zone, having come pretty close to making more birdies at 4, 5 and 6,But he’s not the hottest man out there today,That award currently goes to Im Sung-jae, the 2020 joint runner-up with Cameron Smith: the 28-year-old Korean has just birdied 11, 13, 15 and 16 to move to four under for his round, and level par overall.

It’s just not happening for Scottie Scheffler,He dumps his tee shot at 4 into the bunker guarding the front of the green, and is unable to get up and down,The bogey takes him back to -1,Meanwhile Brooks Koepka sends his tee shot at 6 over the flag to 15 feet, but only gives his birdie putt enough juice to cover 14-and-a-half of them,He remains at -2.

“Gotta effing love Bobby Mac channelling his inner Logan Roy on the back nine yesterday,” begins Simon McMahon, who, rather like the late CEO of Waystar RoyCo, is a potty-mouthed child o’Dundee.“Never change, Bob.Wherever the cut falls, Bob will need to keep his emotions in check and shoot something low.I’m rooting for him, and though it seems 2026 is unlikely to be his year, a red-faced, sweary Scotsman from Oban wearing a green jacket at Augusta would be one of the great stories.”And on that subject, let me cheer you with the news that MacIntyre has just carded back-to-back birdies, the latest the result of a 30-foot trundle across 4.

He’s back where he started the day at +8.Brooks Koepka is rolling back the years.He sends his approach at 5 from 200 yards to 15 feet, and carefully steers in the right-to-left slider.That’s a third birdie in four holes, and the five-time major winner, who has tied for second twice at Augusta (in 2019 and 2023), is in good nick and coming up hard on the rail.-5: Burns, McIlroy -3: Kitayama, Day, Reed -2: Clark (12), Koepka (5), Scheffler (3), Lowry, SchauffeleScottie Scheffler isn’t quite bringing his best stuff.

A drive at 2 that disappears down the banking to the left of the fairway.Just par on the historically easiest hole on the course.Then a lacklustre chip into 3.The birdie putt uncharacteristically timid, and that’s just a par-par-par start for the world number one.Hardly a disaster, and he remains at -2, but slow starts have dogged him this season, and he won’t want to pass by too many more scoring opportunities, and give up too much ground to the leaders.

Jon Rahm went round without making a single birdie yesterday, en route to his 78.But he’s trying his best to repair the damage of a six-over round.Birdie at 2, followed by a tramliner across 5, and the 2023 champion is back to +4.It’s way too early to be certain, but that takes him just inside the projected cut.That’s oscillating between +3 and +4 at the moment, mind you, and is bound to change quite a bit as the day goes on.

Almost certainly moving out.But Rahm will now have hope after yesterday’s fiasco.Justin Rose’s tee shot at 4 deserves birdie.But it doesn’t lead to one.It’s a fairly straight putt from seven feet … but not completely straight, and it slips off to the right.

Rose flings his putter in the air in frustration, then fails to catch it as he falls.Some hurried repair work with his pitchfork.All good again.But he remains at -1, alongside Brooks Koepka, who can’t make his 25-foot birdie putt, and Jordan Spieth, much more content after getting up and down from the sand.Another birdie putt for Tyrrell Hatton; another lip-out, this time at 5.

A couple of millimetres here, another couple there, and the 34-year-old Englishman would have had four consecutive birdies,But as it is, he stays at level par,Meanwhile disaster for Gary Woodland at 2,He sends a fairway wood through the trees down the right of the hole, and can only punch out,He then underhits a wedge into a bunker, and he can’t get up and down.

A double-bogey seven on a par five, and he’s back to +1 overall.The par-three 4th is a different proposition today.Just 178 yards yesterday; 231 now.Brooks Koepka pushes his tee shot slightly, but the ball lands on the right-hand side of the green and the camber takes him round to 25 feet.Jordan Spieth dumps his ball in the bunker at the front.

Justin Rose’s effort is the best of the lot, a high draw over the flag to seven feet.Difficult to sense whether this three-ball will inspire each other to great heights, or drag each other down.It’s strangely in the balance right now, the slim margins of Masters golf.Wyndham Clark drops his first stroke of the day.He misses the 10th green to the right, finding the big bunker.

His wedge out flies past the hole and only just holds the green; the putt coming back is always breaking to the left,Meanwhile Brooks Koepka wedges to seven feet at 3, and makes his birdie putt,He joins his partners Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth at -1, the former hitting another careless chip, the latter missing another makeable birdie putt,Rose especially showing signs of frustration, bordering on full-blown irritation,His mood only registering 1.

5 out of 10 on our patented BobMacometer™, though,-5: Burns, McIlroy -3: Kitayama, Day, Reed -2: Clark (10), Scheffler (1), Lowry, SchauffeleThe LIV crew haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory so far this week,Tyrrell Hatton is however trying his best to address that issue,Birdies at 2 and 3, and after yesterday’s undercooked 74, he moves back to level par for the Tournament,Then at the par-three 4th, he’s a couple of millimetres away from making it three in a row, tickling a left-to-right slider downhill from 15 feet, the ball slipping agonisingly by on its last rotation.

That was a fine effort.Disappointing pars for Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth at 2.Both miss short-ish but missable birdie putts, Rose as the result of a heavy-handed chip, Spieth not committing to a 35-foot eagle chance.Birdie for Brooks Koepka, though.Rose and Spieth remain at -1, Koepka moves back to level par.

Scheffler tickles a downhill 15-footer to within an inch of dropping.Opening par.Same for Woodland, whose easier, fairly straight 12-footer across the green dies to the left on its last turn.But MacIntyre skulls his sand shot, the ball trundling 40 feet past.Three putts later, that’s an ugly double-bogey to start.

He’s +10 and let’s put this week down as a learning process.Meanwhile Wyndham Clark pars 9 to hit the turn in 33.He remains -3.Scheffler and Woodland take turns to throw darts at the pin on 1.MacIntyre, perhaps mindful that he needs a super-low number today if he’s to somehow survive, also goes for the flag but pulls his approach, and he’ll be shortsided in the bunker.

The world number one Scottie Scheffler is out and about.He doesn’t quite catch his opening drive, and peers after it quizzically, but while it’s shorter than usual, it’s straight.Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland follow him down.MacIntyre gets a good reception from the gallery, despite yesterday’s toddler-style tanty, flashing a middle finger at the pond on 15 which had just snaffled two of his balls, and burying the hosel of his club into the ground at 17.No news yet as to whether or not the Augusta National suits have given him a clip round the lug.

Perhaps they think a round of 80 was punishment enough.A disappointing three-putt par for Wyndham Clark at the par-five 8th.Having found the heart of the bowl-shaped green in two, he races his 50-foot eagle putt 11 feet past, and gets a bit over-excited with the one coming back, too, knocking that a couple of feet past.He tidies up to stay at -3, but that’s a big chance spurned.Justin Rose’s ball has found the tree line all right.

His backswing is hampered by an awkward loblolly.So he does exceptionally well to punch a low shot under the branches, through the green, and just off the back.But he leaves his putt from the fringe eight feet short, and can’t make the par saver.That’s three bogeys in a row, if we’re counting the denouement to last night’s round, which we surely must.Bogey for Brooks Koepka, too, as he’s unable to read a putt with a 20-foot right-to-left break correctly.

But it’s a birdie for Jordan Spieth, who walks in a straight-ish 15-footer after finding the heart of the green,Koepka drops to +1; Spieth and Rose are both -1, but one is much happier about it than the other,Justin Rose was running “a little hot” after bogeying 17 and 18 last night,He’s not 100 percent happy with his opening drive today, either, sending it dangerously close to the tree line down the right,His playing partners Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka are also out of position.

Not the most auspicious start for the marquee group of the morning.Rose starts the day at -2; Spieth and Koepka at level par.Birdie for Aaron Rai at 2! The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton, now based in Florida, gets up and down from sand at the front to move to -2.The winner of the Par 3 Contest has to double up with a Green Jacket at some point, it’s surely in the post, we’re overdue statistically, 66 years and counting.So why not this year?-5: Burns, McIlroy -3: Clark (6), Kitayama, Day, Reed -2: Rai (2), Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, SchauffeleWyndham Clark’s birdie putt at 6 looks good