Patrick Reed posted a low-round 66 on Friday at the Masters to reach 9-under par and assume the pole position at the halfway point.
Reed, 27, finished his second day at Augusta National with three bogeys offset by nine birdies, highlighted by three sets of hat tricks (Nos. 1-3, 7-9, and 13-15).
Marc Leishman, who posted a 67 to reach 7 under, sits alone in second. The 34-year old Aussie’s card was comprised of one bogey offset by four birdies and an eagle.
Henrik Stenson made birdie on 17 to post a 70 and reach 5-under par, one clear of Jordan Spieth (74) and Rory McIlroy (71) who are tied for fourth.
Here’s a roundup of day two at what Reed rightly termed “golf’s heaven:”
TOP 10
1 Patrick Reed -9
2 Marc Leishman -7
3 Henrik Stenson -5
4 Rory McIlroy -4
4 Jordan Spieth -4
6 Dustin Johnson -3
6 Justin Thomas -3
8 Tony Finau -2
8 Charley Hoffman -2
8 Rickie Fowler -2
8 Bubba Watson -2
8 Louis Oosthuizen -2
8 Justin Rose -2
NOTABLES
14 Jon Rahm -1
14 Matt Kuchar -1
18 Hideki Matsuyama E
18 Tommy Fleetwood E
18 Zach Johnson E
23 Rafael Cabrera Bello +1
28 Fred Couples +2
28 Jason Day +2
40 Bernhard Langer +4
40 Tiger Woods +4
40 Adam Scott +4
46 Phil Mickelson +5
NOTABLES MISSING CUT
Cut line was +5
Charl Schwartzel +6
Shubhankar Sharma +7
Thomas Pieters +7
Danny Willett +7
Alex Noren +9
Sergio Garcia +18
VIDEO STORY
ESPN’s Jimmy Roberts with a nice little feature on Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed.
This weekend, someone's dreams are going to come true. #themasters pic.twitter.com/uRBsuzFbmC
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 7, 2018
REED’S NUMBERS
Driving: 301.3 yards (6th)
Fairways: 78.6%, 22/28 (5th)
Greens: 66.7%, 24/36 (T14)
Putts/GIR: 2.125 (1st)
SCORING
Par-5: -8 (8 Birdies)
Par-4: -3 (6 Birdies, 11 Pars, 3 Bogeys)
Par-3: +2 (4 Pars, 2 Bogeys)
Total: 0 Eagles, 14 Birdies, 17 Pars, 5 Bogeys
AMEN CORNER
Round 1: E (Bogey, Par, Birdie)
Round 2: -1 (Par, Par, Birdie)
PUTT OF THE DAY
Rickie Fowler saves par with a 66-foot putt on the sixth hole to remain at 2-under par. Fowler sit T8 through two rounds.
.@RickieFowler saves par with a 66-foot putt on No. 6 and remains at 2-under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/8LEd5CCtLv
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 6, 2018
PUTT OF THE DAY II
Russell Henley drains an 82-foot bomb for eagle on the par-5 15th hole. Henley is tied for 23rd at 1-over par.
.@russhenleygolf holes an 82-foot putt for eagle on No. 15 during the second round of #themasters. pic.twitter.com/P6NxXbN3RQ
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 6, 2018
CHIP-IN OF THE DAY
World No. 2 Justin Thomas was a forgotten man until a chip-in birdie on the sixth hole moved him into the red numbers. Thomas would go on to birdie three more holes to finish with a 5-under 67 and move 36 positions up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth with Dustin Johnson.
.@JustinThomas34 moves to red figures after his chip-in birdie on No. 6. #themasters pic.twitter.com/Rxn5XO2Exi
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 6, 2018
CHIP-IN OF THE DAY II
Jhonattan Vegas closed out his second round with a chip-in birdie on the 18th hole to move to 2-over par and inside the top 30 (T28).
.@JhonattanVegas closes his second round in style with a chip-in birdie on No. 18. #themasters pic.twitter.com/Eky8OHEUsO
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 6, 2018
STAT OF THE DAY
Patrick Reed’s first six holes went this way: birdie-birdie-birdie-bogey-par-par, good for a 2 under number. Reed apparently liked that sequence of score so much that he strung together the exact same set of numbers two more times to finish at 6-under par.
Holes 1-6: Birdie-Birdie-Birdie-Bogey-Par-Par
Holes 7-12: Birdie-Birdie-Birdie-Bogey-Par-Par
Holes 13-18: Birdie-Birdie-Birdie-Bogey-Par-Par
TIGER UPDATE
Tiger Woods shot a second-day 3-over 75 and sits T40. Woods struggled for much of the day, going out in 3-over 39, and coming home to even-par with two birdies and two bogeys.
Watch @TigerWoods' second round in under three minutes. #themasters pic.twitter.com/vd7Ssco2XN
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 7, 2018
BY THE NUMBERS
Driving: 297 yards (291-303)
Fairways: 53.6%, 15/28 (8/14-7/14)
Greens: 58.3%, 21/36 (11/18-10/18)
Putts Per GIR: 2.673 (2.545-2.775)
SCORING
Par-5s (-2) 2 Birdies, 6 Pars
Par-4s (+3) 2 Birdies, 3 Bogeys, 6 Pars, 1 Double Bogey
Par-3s (+3) 1 Birdie, 4 Bogeys, 3 Pars
Total: 0 Eagles, 5 Birdies, 23 Pars, 7 Bogeys, 1 Double Bogey
AMEN CORNER
Round 1: +2 (Bogey, Bogey, Par)
Round 2: E (Par, Bogey, Birdie)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’m happy to finally shoot a round in the 60s here in tournament competition.”
– Justin Thomas, after posting his first career sub-70 round at Augusta National.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Photographer Andrew Redington gets a great shot of two of the world’s top players in Dustin Johnson (No. 1) and Justin Rose (No. 5) who are both in contention and chasing Patrick Reed.
Credit: Masters.com, Getty Images
