The Masters: Dustin Johnson tied for top, Danny Willett leads England charge | Golf news

The world number one is part of a four-in-one turn to the overnight lead at The Masters at nine under par, three English stars just two off the pace, while Rory McIlroy fights off a rocky start as the second round 66 revives the title chances.

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A look back at the best of the action from the second round of the 84th Masters at Augusta National.

Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas are tied for the lead while Danny Willett, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose led a strong English challenge on the second day of the 84th Masters.

Johnson and Thomas are tied for the top at nine under par with Masters rookie Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith after another day of good scoring at Augusta National, with Willett, Fleetwood and Rose just two behind and with their second complete rounds.

Rory McIlroy rallied from a 75 start with a magnificent 66 to finish the day just six behind the leader when it looked like he had played out of the tournament for the first 90 minutes on Friday morning, while Tiger Woods and Jon Rahm are in between. the big names who will return early Saturday to finish their second rounds.

Rory McIlroy is six behind after a second round of 66

Johnson looked back at cruise control as soon as play resumed at 7:30 a.m., making two on the 12 and three birdies on the final four holes that rounded off a first-round 65 that equaled the best effort of the day. Paul Casey. on the first day altered by the weather.

After about an hour between rounds, Johnson rebooted on the 10th and poked fun at Amen Corner’s difficulty, birdie 11, 12, and 13 to jump three off the field and seemed likely to run further ahead until he bogey 14 and then it came. he came up short with his second to 15 – one of many to find the water at the front of the green.

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The resulting bogey blew the wind out of the sails, and his shoulders sagged a bit more as he missed a short birdie putt on the next before throwing 11 consecutive pairs to stay at eight-under.

With Ancer (67), Smith (68) and Thomas (69) already in the clubhouse at nine under par, Johnson managed to rebound in a tie at the top when he hit a big drive in ninth and cut a wedge to six. feet, hitting a birdie putt that could have a huge impact on his confidence heading into the weekend.

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Dustin Johnson currently sits as the joint leader of this year’s Masters after scoring a total of 65 on the second day.

Thomas closed a 66 before making a poor start to his second round, though he recovered with four birdies in a row from 15 only to then mess up the first and return two more shots.

He responded with a four in the second, and a birdie-birdie capped an adventurous 69, while world number 2 Jon Rahm is just one behind the leader and has a five-foot birdie putt to return on the 13th green when he plays. It resumes at 7:30 am on Saturday morning (12:30 pm GMT).

Willett hasn’t made the midway cut at Augusta National since taking advantage of Jordan Spieth’s collapse in 2016 and clinching the title, but he’s well positioned for a weekend challenge after rounds 71 ​​and 66, the latter accomplished. despite not having a driver in your bag.

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Danny Willett says it was nice to see his name on the leaderboard after a four-year absence with the 2016 champion with seven short for the tournament and two out of the lead.

The Yorkshire man broke the clubface on his driver two holes from the end of his first round and chose not to replace him, and may have been regretting that decision when he hit his three-hole stick in trouble in the 10th and started his second round. with a double bogey six.

But he got back on track with an eagle at 13 followed by two birdies in a row, and his sixth birdie of the round in the ninth rounded a 66 that was emulated by compatriot Fleetwood, who also made a mistake early in his second round.

Rose, a two-time Masters runner-up, posted a 67 start but was one more in his 18th seconds until he birdied three of his last four holes to join Willett and Fleetwood on seven under, while leading the night. In the morning Paul Casey slipped to six low and still had seven holes left when play was stopped due to darkness.

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Bernhard Langer has become the oldest man to make the cut in Masters history and says he can’t believe he’s still competing at his age.

Three-time champion Phil Mickelson “drove like a stud” but “made a terrible putter” in rounds of 69 and 70 that brought him down five, while Bernhard Langer created Masters history when the 63-year-old imperishable went through 36 holes in three under and became the oldest player to make the cut midway.

Woods got off to a late start in his second round and looked a bit erratic on a 36 out, birdies on both par fives but taking shots on the third and seventh and had just hit his drive at 11 on the first cut. and faces a tough 203-yard second when he returns to the field on Saturday.

McIlroy, full of optimism heading into the tournament, looked heartbroken as he trudged down the 18th green having needed 39 strokes to trade the back-nine and signed for 75 in the first round, leaving him not just 10 shots behind. Casey, but needed a round of less than 70 seconds to avoid a missed cut.

McIlroy appeared to come out of the tournament after a first round of 75

But he was a different player in the afternoon, making six birdies and keeping a bogey on his scorecard at 66 that took him into the third round with plenty to spare at three under par.

Lee Westwood (13 holes), Ian Poulter (9) and Matt Wallace (9) are two under par with plenty of golf left in their second rounds, while pre-tournament favorite Bryson DeChambeau is struggling to avoid losing the cut afterwards. of a roller coaster. first 12 holes, carding only three pairs.

DeChambeau birdied the second, but was unlucky enough to lose a ball in a marshy area to the left of the third green, returning to the tee and eventually working his way to a triple bogey seven that followed with consecutive bogeys.

The US Open champion managed to birdie sixth, eighth and twelfth around more errors in seven and 10, and he will likely have to play the last six holes at two under par if he wants to extend his tournament one more. .

Play will resume on Saturday at 12:30 pm and we will have live coverage of the conclusion of the second round on Sky Sports The Masters and Sky Sports Main Event.

If no further delays occur, the third round will begin at approximately 3:30 pm.