A Day makes a difference at Masters

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 US Masters | Round Two | 09 Apr 2011

Jason Day has staked his claim for Australian golfing immortality with a brilliant second round of 64 at the 2011 Masters to be just two off the 36 hole lead held by Rory McIlroy.

Day, who is his first Masters appearance and just his third in major championship golf, produced a final nine of 31 to guarantee himself of a berth in the final pairing in tomorrow’s third round. When he reached the turn in 33, Day already seemed assured of the significant milestone of making the cut on debut at Augusta National but more was to come and a lot of it.

A birdie at the toughest hole on the golf course, the 11th, and he had moved to 4 under and to the edge of contention. He then two putted from 60 feet at the 13th for another birdie to move within five shots of his playing partner’s McIlroy’s lead.

At the 14th his approach finished 14 feet behind the hole and when that went in he was closing fast. The 15th would provide another opportunity but when his second careered through the green he was faced with an almost impossible up and down and even a par would be a good result. As bold as brass he hit a high lob which went close to the edge of the bank that leads to watery grave. It stopped and he so nearly pulled off what would have been a remarkable birdie.

A late change of clubs at the 16th resulted in a near perfect tee shot which released a little on landing and finished 20 feet past. He would hole that slippery putt however to move to 7 under and was now within three of the lead and in a share of second with K.J. Choi.

At the 18th Day hit a superb drive setting up a short iron approach to the 18th which 20 feet pitched past the flag and fed down the ridge to two feet. The resultant birdie completed a round of 64 and he was within two of McIlroy.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Day after his round. “I said to the boys this morning, Rory and Rickie when we were walking up the first hole, I said, you know what, I’m going to have to start paying people to yell my name out because everyone is yelling their name out. It got a bit better on the back nine which was nice. The atmosphere was great and all three of us played wonderful.

“Obviously I had a great round today. I got a little bit of a slow start yesterday, but I came home strong today and I’m just looking forward to the next two days obviously. It’s just really good experience.

“I watched Rory shoot 7-under yesterday, and he put himself in the right positions on the course. He played the course exactly how it’s supposed to play, and I just tried to stick to my game plan. I had a game plan at the start of the week and I’m just trying to stick to that. There are certain holes that you want to respect out here, and then there are certain holes that you want to try and jump on and hopefully get a birdie.

“You need a lot of experience around here. I played wonderfully today, and I shot 8-under, which was good. Obviously you need the experience on Saturday and Sunday. They are the two big rounds that you obviously need to play well in. So hopefully I’m just going to go tonight and just relax and have a good sleep tonight and come back tomorrow and hopefully shoot a good one.”

Joint first round leader McIlroy was rock solid for much of the day, his only mistake coming at the 12th which he bogeyed. That aside however it was an impressive follow up especially given the fact that the last time he led after round one in a major he had bombed his second round at the Open Championship last year.

“It’s always hard to back up,” said McIlory referring to his first round of 65. “I didn’t expect to shoot another 65 out there today. I knew that I played pretty much flawlessly yesterday. I played pretty similar today to be honest. I hit it really well. I didn’t hole many putts on the back nine.”

“I’ll just be concentrating on the golf course,” he added referring to a question asked about Tiger Woods’ move. “If you start thinking about anyone else here — if you let your mind wander at all, it can cost you a couple of shots. I’ll be focusing on my targets and focusing on where I want my ball to go on the greens, and that’s all I can do.”

“I don’t really care what anyone else does,” added McIlroy referring to the increasing shadow of Tiger Woods. “I don’t need to know. So it will be great for the tournament if he’s up there. But I’m two shots ahead and I’m in a better position.

“I’m very comfortable with the work that I’ve done over the past few weeks, and I feel my preparation for this tournament has been very good. And that’s really why I’m so comfortable in this position, because I feel as if I’ve prepared as good as anyone else. I feel as if I’m hitting it as well as anyone else.”

Choi has again displayed an uncanny comfort zone with Augusta National. He finished 15th on debut in 2003 and the following year finished 3rd. Last year he finished 4th so there is a lot to admire and respect regarding his chances over the weekend.

Late in the day however it was Tiger Woods who was reminding us all just why the competitive juices flow at Augusta National and why he has won this title on four occasions. He started slowly, in fact through seven holes he had slipped to 1 over for the round and even par for the tournament. With the cut line appearing as if it would fall at 1 over he needed to work hard just to make the cut.

Three consecutive birdies at the 8th, 9th and 10th removed any doubt about his involvement at the weekend and just over an hour later as he walked from the 15th green he had not only dismissed any concerns regarding the weekend he was now within four shots of the lead. His swing which had looked a concern earlier was now working on all cylinders. The only hiccup over his back nine came with a wild tee shot at the 11th but he recovered well for par.

Woods one last statement to the precocious pair ahead of him came at the last when he hit a stunning recovery shot from the edge of the right hand trees at the last to 14 feet and when that went in he was within three and in a share of third position with Choi.

“I was just trying to stay patient that was all I was trying to do,” said Woods. “I was trying to get to under par by the turn – that was the goal – and then piece together a good back nine and I got a little hot.”

Geoff Ogilvy is nicely poised at 6 under and within four of the lead after his second consecutive round of 69. Ogilvy seems very content with things as he explained after his round. “I’m getting the life balance worked out better, and I’ve worked out practice a little bit. I used to feel like practice was a bit counterproductive for me, but I feel like I’ve worked out how to go to the golf course and leave having achieved something, and that’s a nice feeling, if that makes sense.

“We had three kids in four years starting four months after I won the U.S. Open, so there were a few changes there in four years. And it just takes a while to work out how to fit it all in, you know what I mean? And I wasn’t playing very well last year, which was probably just one of those things.”

The other Australians to make the cut were Adam Scott at 2 under and Aaron Baddeley at 1 over.

Robert Allenby’s flier from the left rough at the last cost him a bogey and the chance to play the weekend and Stuart Appleby has battled a back complaint all week but did well with a gritty round of 72 to miss by two.