Friday At The 2024 Masters
Three Americans share 36-hole lead on a taxing day in Augusta. Plus, the 15th hole exposes players, Woods sets new cut record, Quotables, Zach Johnson loses cool with Patrons, This, That And Tee Times
Masters Friday By The Numbers
7:50 a.m. - First round restart time.
10:06 a.m. - Completion of first round Friday.
74 - High temperature.
67 - Max Homa’s round one score completed early Friday, his lowest in 51 career major rounds.
73 - Tiger Woods round one score, just his 10th over par score in 98 Masters rounds
9 - Jordan Spieth’s round one score at the 15th, his second 9 on the hole
6:05 - Six hours and five minutes, the time it took Jon Rahm’s group and other similar late Friday times to play 18 holes.
2 - Players posting sub-par scores the first two rounds (Homa, Morikawa)
8 - Number of sub-par rounds posted Friday.
1 - Number of sub-70 rounds posted Friday. (Aberg)
+6/150 - The cut line. This is the first year that the cut line has been 150 or higher since 2017.
36.421 - First nine scoring average through two rounds
37.831 - Second nine average, making this the first Masters since World War II
where the second nine scoring was over 1.4 strokes higher than first nine through 36.
75.079 - Scoring average after 36.
3 - Eagles through 36 holes (2nd, 3rd and 8th holes)
71 - Round by Neal Shipley to take the low amateur lead.
3 - Americans tied for the lead after 36, the first time since 1985.
Everyone survived.
The players made it to the clubhouse, the course setup team kept Augusta National playable in some of the most intense winds the tournament has seen its 88 years, and the weekend stage is set for a Grade A, Prime Cut, All-American, AI-infused Masters.
A healthy 18 players are within six shots of leaders Max Homa, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler.
To get there meant surviving some of the most brutal conditions imaginable on a course nearing 7,600 yards with zero flexibility and only 18-or-so greens that require fire hoses on call. Throw in some gloriously cranky reactions to it all and this could have unraveled.
Tiger Woods makes it to Saturday for the 24th time, setting a new record. Another former Champion, Zach Johnson, will not be around but he went out cussing at Patrons.
No crystal for Zach this year but he might get a chippy letter from the Chairman.
The 2024 Masters features a three-way tie at the top between three of the more fascinating American players possible. Just take a guess who is playing with irons he made on a 3D printer and only approved Monday by the USGA?
All of that fun is featured in this Quad along with my sacrificial work (on your behalf) sitting in the grandstands observing the madness that is No. 15 and Amen Corner.
Woods Sets New Masters Cut Streak Record
Tiger Woods made his 24th consecutive Masters cut, surpassing the mark he shared with Gary Player and Fred Couples. Despite a Friday morning restart where he appeared slow to loosen up, the five-time champion nursed his ball around and easily made it to the weekend on shrewd misses and some fantastic short game work during a day of high wind gusts.
“I have a chance to win the golf tournament,” Woods said when asked about the feat. “I don't know if they're all going to finish today, but I'm done. I got my two rounds in. Just need some food and some caffeine, and I'll be good to go.”
Woods’ rounds of 73-72 tied him for 22nd and will have him playing Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET with Mount Vesuvius Tyrrell Hatton.
“I'm only eight back as of right now,” Woods said in sidestepping the cut streak talk other than to let it be known he’d be texting Couples. “I don't think anyone is going to run off and hide right now, but it's really bunched. The way the ball is moving on the greens, chip shots are being blown, it's all you want in a golf course today.”
Woods has hit 25 of 28 fairways (89%) through two rounds. It is his highest total through 36 since 1996, when he hit 26 of 28 fairways.
Playing partner and co-leader Max Homa reflected on the round with Woods.
“It really is a dream to get to play with him here,” he said. “I've been saying, I always wanted to just watch him hit iron shots around here, and I was right up next to him. It was really cool. His short game was so good. I don't think I can explain how good some of the chip shots he hit today were.”
Homa explained what he saw in watching Woods dissect Augusta National in freakish winds.
“He understands this golf course so well, but he hits such amazing golf shots. His iron play is so good that even when he did miss the green, you could tell he had so much control. And on 18, we had sandblasts for 45 seconds, and I turned around five times so I didn't get crushed in the face, and he's standing there like a statue and then poured it right in the middle. So all the cliches you hear about him and all the old stories about how he will grind it out, it was fun to see that in person.”
Homa even implied the Woods pairing helped his play.
“When you play with Tiger, they are all for Tiger. I mean, part of this is tongue-in-cheek. They say my name, I understand that people are supporting me, but when you walk up to the 12th tee it's one of the coolest walks there is. Everyone cheers, but you know that they are waiting for him. So I think it's easy just to stay in your own world and not get on your high horse at all. I think it kind of keeps you within yourself.”
All of Woods’ shots courtesy of The Masters YouTube page:
15th Takes A Toll But Players Share In The Blame
I went out for round one’s 7:45 restart and parked in the grandstand right of 15 green. It also provides a fantastic view of the 16th. Because the patron rope was not dropped until 7:40, I was only joined by a few patrons at the outset. But as always the place was crammed with golf nuts who were locked in on the action thanks to the no-cell phone policy.
There are so many joys of sitting in a Masters grandstand compared to any other golf tournament by The Open. The patrons know the holes so well and have a great sense of when the player or the conditions are to blame. And unlike the many fine streaming feeds, an observant fan can take in some of the group dynamics or other nuances that stand out with no extra bodies inside the ropes but players and caddies.
A Friday highlight on the group vibe front: watching ready-set-go types Tyrrell Hatton and Mathieu Pavon play quickly while the sluggish Keegan Bradley struggled with their hit-it-and-go pace. At one point on the 16th hole, Bradley hit his third from the front of the par 3 16th tee after depositing his tee shot into the pond. As Pavon and Hatton descended on the green, Bradley slow-walked up to the green where he needed to mark his ball. As he mimicked the turtles inhabiting the 15th hole pond, Bradley dragged his club all the way up to the green as if it was to blame.