The Masters 2024: Scottie Scheffler shares halfway lead as Tiger Woods makes history and Rory McIlroy struggles | Golf News

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler stays favorite for victory at The Masters after shifting right into a share of the midway lead at Augusta Nationwide, the place Tiger Woods made historical past and Rory McIlroy stuttered into the weekend.

Scheffler carded a level-par 72 in robust winds at Augusta Nationwide to stay at six underneath and make it a three-way tie on the prime with Ryder Cup team-mate Max Homa and in a single day chief Bryson DeChambeau.

Nicolai Hojgaard sits in fourth after a spherical the place solely eight gamers break par, whereas Woods’ level-par 72 on a marathon Friday – the place he performed 23 holes – noticed him safe a record-breaking twenty fourth consecutive lower on the opening main of the yr.

McIlroy additionally progressed however noticed his Grand Slam hopes undergo a setback after failing to register a birdie in a five-over 77, dropping him 10 behind, whereas defending champion Jon Rahm additionally struggled to a second-round 76 to fall again to 5 over.

Three share midway lead at The Masters

Scheffler made an early birdie on the second however three-putted the fifth to card his first bogey of the event, earlier than replying to a blemish on the seventh by birdieing two of his subsequent three holes to get to seven underneath.

The 2022 champion was unable to get the identical fortunate break along with his method into the par-five thirteenth as he did yesterday, along with his ball discovering the water and leading to a bogey-six, then closed with 5 pars to stay in a powerful place to win The Masters for a second time in three years.

DeChambeau held a one-shot benefit following a weather-delayed conclusion to the primary spherical, with 27 gamers returning on Friday morning to complete after a two-and-a-half-hour delay the day past.

The previous US Open champion didn’t stand up and down from the again of the inexperienced to save lots of par on the par-three fourth however holed from 20 toes on the seventh, then cancelled out a bogey on the eleventh by birdieing the subsequent two holes of Amen Nook to briefly go two clear.

DeChambeau dropped a shot on the 14th gap after which three-putted the par-four final to complete with a closing bogey and drop again alongside Homa, who had set the preliminary goal on six underneath after mixing two birdies with one bogey in a formidable one-under 71.

Masters debutant Hojgaard was additionally on six underneath till ending a second-round 73 with back-to-back bogeys, dropping him to fourth, with Collin Morikawa sharing fifth with Cameron Davis and Ludvig Åberg an additional stroke again after firing the bottom spherical of the day with a three-under 69.

Tiger rolls again the years at Augusta

Woods performed 23 holes on Friday, the primary time he has performed greater than 18 aggressive holes in a day since 2019, with the 15-time main champion bogeying two of his final 5 holes of a first-round 73 earlier than producing a battling show within the second spherical.

The five-time Masters champion posted 4 birdies and as many bogeys throughout a level-par 72, conserving him in rivalry for an unlikely victory push, as different star names struggled within the winds to make it by to the weekend.

McIlroy’s birdie-less spherical is simply his third ever recorded at The Masters, with the Northern Irishman struggling within the situations, whereas Rahm regarded set for an early exit till back-to-back birdies from the fifteenth.

“Only a actually robust day,” McIlroy stated. “Scoring was very tough. I imply, a lot of the area could not actually get something going. It was only a matter of making an attempt to hold in there as greatest you would.”

Rahm did make a penultimate-hole bogey to go away him tied-Forty fourth on 5 over, whereas Justin Thomas dropped seven photographs over his closing 4 holes to overlook the lower but additionally permit these on six over to sneak by to the weekend on the lower mark.

Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama each benefitted from Thomas’ blunder, whereas US Open champion Wyndham Clark, FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland, reigning Open champion Brian Harman, three-time main winner Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson all made early exits.

Watch The Masters all through the week completely reside on Sky Sports activities! Watch Featured Teams at The Masters on Saturday from 3pm by way of the purple button or log in to the Sky Sports activities app, with full protection from 7.30pm on Sky Sports activities Golf.

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