AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — One of the bigger storylines entering Friday's second round at the 90th Masters will be which players won't make the cut.
LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are both of the verge of canceling their weekend plans after posting big numbers in Thursday's first round.
DeChambeau, considered one of the favorites coming in after winning his last two LIV starts, shot 76. He needed three shots to get out of a greenside bunker
on the par-4 11th hole, resulting in a triple bogey. He was never able to fully recover and was tied for 56th.
Rahm is in a tougher spot after a 78 that left him tied for 73rd. The Spaniard didn't make a single birdie and finished with four bogeys and one double bogey.
The top 50, including ties, make the 36-hole cut.
Some other players flirting with the cut line include Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners (75), Sungjae Im (76) and Patrick Cantlay and Maverick McNealy (77).
Here's what you need to know entering the second round of the Masters.
Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns shared the first-round lead after both shot 67.
Kurt Kitayama, Jason Day and Patrick Reed are two shots back, while last year’s runner-up, Justin Rose, two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele are chasing the leaders from three shots behind.
The second round of the Masters begins at 7:40 a.m. EDT Friday.
Here are the tee times.
Amazon Prime Video’s second-round coverage will begin at 1 p.m. ESPN will take over at 3 p.m.
Masters.com and the Masters app will stream a “featured groups” channel, as well as channels featuring selected holes at Augusta National.
Friday's featured groups include Jordan Spieth, Rose and Brooks Koepka, who tee off at 9:55 a.m. Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland start at 10:10 a.m. Dustin Johnson, Lowry and Day tee off at 12:56 p.m. McIlroy, Cameron Young and Mason Howell get underway at 1:56 p.m.
That's the question on everyone's mind.
Before McIlroy even got to the first tee box, six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus proclaimed the superstar from Northern Ireland had a “really, really good chance” to join him, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the tournament in back-to-back years.
Then McIlroy went out and made six birdies and only one bogey.
No longer playing with the pressure of having to complete a career Grand Slam, McIlroy said he put full trust in his swing and didn't worry about the outcome. Afterward, he pointed to already having won a Masters, saying, “I know that I can go to the Champions Locker Room and put my green jacket on and have a Coke Zero at the end of the day.”
Scheffler is in a great position for his third Masters in five years.
He was 3 under after four holes of his opening round. But the 2022 and 2024 champion didn't make a birdie the rest of the day as conditions got tougher and the greens began to dry out.
McIlroy is the new favorite to win at +280, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. He’s followed by Scheffler (+400), Schauffele (+1000), Burns (+1200) and Rose (+1400). DeChambeau is now listed at +6600.
Tiger Woods isn't playing in the Masters for the second straight year. He was arrested March 27 in Florida on a charge of driving under the influence No alcohol was found in his system, but police determined he was impaired. Opioid pain pills were found in his pocket at the scene, according to police.
Woods pleaded not guilty last week, and then issued a statement saying he was taking an indefinite leave from golf to seek treatment.
On Friday, former Masters champion Gary Player sympathized with Woods being in constant pain from his previous injuries, but added that he needs to get a chauffeur.
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