Stuck at work? Unable to follow today's action at the Masters? Mike Walker, senior editor for GOLF Magazine, will live blog the morning action, which includes Tiger Woods, who tees off at 10:45 am. ET. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions below, and check back often for the latest news from Augusta.
Leaderboard: Check out the latest scores from the Masters
10:49 a.m.
Hunter Mahan’s falling off the rails with a bogey on No. 2 and a double on No. 3. He did birdie four holes on the back nine Thursday after a double on 11 though.
10:46 a.m.
Anybody else excited to see Jim Furyk 6-under) near the top of the leaderboard? I spoke to him last year and his runner-up finish at the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont was still eating at him. "Being from Pennsylvania, I really wanted that one," Furyk said. He tees off at 1:52 p.m.
10:37 a.m.
Less than 10 minutes until Tiger Woods tees off. Friend of the blog and SoCal golf pro Brady Riggs says that all Woods wants is to get in position for the back nine on Sunday and so far he's right there. "People should pay attention to how he just dissects a golf course," Riggs says. "If he plays mediocre, he contents, if he plays good he wins, if he plays great he wins by a lot."
10:17 a.m.
Ryder Cup stud Hunter Mahan birdied No. 1 (!) to get to 7-under. Golf Magazine’s Cameron Morfit says Mahan could be following Zach Johnson’s recipe for success in 2007, take your confidence from making the Ryder Cup team and use that momentum to play well at the Masters. At a press conference Thursday, Mahan talked about how he's always mistaken for fellow Texan Justin Leonard.
"Oh yea, all the time," Mahan said of his doppleganger. "There's a great picture of me and [Leonard], and I'm like a foot shorter than he is, at the Byron, and it's great to be mistaken for him. It's pretty funny. "
Mahan also said he saw the famously media-unfriendly Leonard as a great model as the assembled reporters shuttered.
10:06 a.m.
The Golf Channel interviewed Chad Campbell before his round. “I slept pretty good,” Campbell said. “I’ve had this cold the last couple weeks and lirjtljfvssdhlfuhiurllisaaaaaaa
Sorry, dozed off there for a minute. Campbell just birdied No. 2 to go to 8-under.
9:52 a.m.
Freddie Couple and Rocco Mediate are playing together and both are 1-under through No. 3 and even for the tournament. I tried Freddie's new wine at a media dinner. It was good but the marketing was understated--Freddie's name wasn't even on the bottle. We thought a better seller would be Boom-Boom's 30-proof.
BTW, if Freddie or Rocco got into contention, this place will go wild. The fans absolutely love this guys. They're the Anti-Vijay.
9:38 a.m.
Leader Chad Campbell (6-under) is even through one. Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Brady Riggs says the reason you see Campbell, Hunter Mahan (5-under) and Jim Furyk (5-under) on top of the leaderboard is that they’re great iron players. “Augusta National is a second shot golf course,” Riggs said. ‘”The guys who can hit their approaches to the correct side of the hole are going to win.”
9:31 a.m.
Sean O'Hair (4-under) is on the course and even through 1. The 26-year-old Philly guy has had some high-profile losses (the 2007 Players and Bay Hill a couple weeks ago), but he'll win a big one someday--though probably not this weekend.
9:29 a.m.
Reader Jim says Tiger breached golf etiqutte with his spitting on No. 18 on Thursday. "Anyone notice Tiger spitting on the green on 18? They need to cut that out. This is not baseball this is golf. Golf has etiquette!" Sports Illustrated's Farrell Evens got this right: It's not Tiger spitting that's troubling, the problem is he's not any good at it:
Tiger is not a good practitioner of the art of spitting. The saliva must come out of the mouth in a tight rope. Tiger’s tends to come out like a water hose meant to wet the widest space possible. Also, he’s just not a spitting type of guy. What do I mean? He’s a golfer from Southern California, not Salinas or Sacramento or Selma or San Antonio.
Boo Weekley is good at it because he knows the context of spitting. He knows the history and has seen good men, hardworking men, perform one of the working man’s greatest crafts.
Agree with Jim or Farrell or got your own take? Post it in the comments below.
9:17 a.m.
Forget Chad Campbell’s run at 62 on Thursday. I thought the most amazing news was Kelly Tilghman’s Golf Channel report that Condi Rice is at the Masters and could be in line for a high-ranking job with the PGA Tour. Which would be tougher: getting North Korea’s Kim Jong Il to give up the nukes or getting Tiger to play in more than 15 events? Probably a toss-up.
9:02 am.
John Merrick might now be the second most famous John Merrick after birdies on Nos. 2 and 4 to move into second place at 6-under. The 27-year-old Californian qualified for the Masters by finishing in the Top 8 at the U.S. Open. He lists his parents as his heroes and won the 2001 Southern California Golf Association Amateur at age 19, the youngest winner of the event since Tiger Woods. (Man, I love the Masters Players Guide.) John also likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.
8:55 a.m.
Golf.com weatherman Alan Bastable predicts severe weather and higher scores this afternoon:
After a near-perfect day yesterday at Augusta National, rain and high winds are expected to move in later this afternoon, which could make scoring conditions considerably more difficult in the second round. According to the official Masters weather report: “Some of these storms could be severe, with small hail, strong winds, and heavy rainfall.”
Guys who could be affected: Phil Mickelson (1-over), Jim Furyk (6-under) at 1:52 p.m. Mike Weir (4-under) at 1:30 p.m. Greg Norman (2-under) at 1:08 p.m. We can't include 3-under Padraig Harrington, who's playing with Weir, in this group. After winning Open Championships in nasty weather Royal Birkdale and Carnoustie, and his PGA Championship in chilly Oakland Hills, this might be an advantage for Paddy.
8:47 a.m.
Larry Mize recovered from his double-bogey start to post birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to get back to even today and 5-under for the tournament. Somewhere near Greg Norman a dog is barking.
8:45 a.m.
I saw John Daly selling hats and shirts and mugging for fans’ photos on Washington Road a couple times this week. He looks a lot fitter than at his pre-suspension Tour events. Has Long John started working out? No, according to the Associated Press, which reports the svelte Daly did it the Al Roker way.
After his weight, always a struggle for the 5-foot-11 Daly, ballooned to 280 pounds, he underwent Lap-Band surgery in February. A silicone band was placed around the upper portion of his stomach, shrinking its size and limiting how much he can eat. He's lost 42 pounds so far, and has gone from wearing XXXL shirts to extra large.
He's on a high-protein diet, and what he does eat has to be chewed and chewed and chewed so it will be soft enough to swallow. Alcohol? Daly said he'll have the occasional sip of a drink or a beer, but that's it.
"It takes me about an hour to drink one beer, just sipping on it," he said. "I drink a little bit, but not much."
I’m not sure what time Daly is going out on Washington Road today, but it won’t be early.
8:34 a.m.
ESPN's TV coverage won’t start until 4 p.m. but we’ll do our best here to keep you up to date with all the action and scores. Upcoming tee times to watch (scores from Thursday):
Larry Mize (5-under) is on the course.
Todd Hamilton (4-under) is on the course and even through 1.
Graeme McDowell and Aaron Baddeley (both 3-under): 8:33 a.m.
Sean O’Hair (4-under): 9:06 a.m.
Andres Romero (3-under): 9:17 a.m.
And the tee times you really want to know:
Tiger Woods (2-under): 10:45 a.m.
Phil Mickelson (1-over): 1:52 p.m.
Greg Norman (2-under): 1:08 p.m.
Padraig Harrington (3-under): 1:41 p.m.
Gary Player (6-over in his final Masters): 12:46 p.m.
8:15 a.m.
And we’re off. Larry Mize, tied for third Thursday at 5-under, has double-bogeyed the first hole. Mize, 50, chipped in for birdie in the second playoff hole to beat Greg Norman in the 1987 Masters, one of Norman’s famed Masters heartbreaks. As a teenager Mize worked on the Masters scoreboard, just more proof that course knowledge at Augusta National is the ultimate advantage (and why golf’s Generation Next struggled so much Thursday).
Mize playing well is one of Thuersday’s great story, but Norman, not in bad position at 2-under, didn’t sound like he wanted to rehash 1987 again at his post-round press conference.
Q. Larry Mize is high on the leaderboard.
GREG NORMAN: I haven't even noticed the leaderboard to tell you the truth.
Q. He's 5‑under.
GREG NORMAN: Good for Larry. Well, that's great. It's great to see that, and I think you're going to see a lot of good scores coming out of this golf course today. I would not be at all surprised if you see a 6‑ or 7‑under or a 5‑, 6‑, 7‑under leading the golf tournament at the end of the day.
Q. Can a 54‑year‑old man win this golf tournament?
GREG NORMAN: We'll have to wait and see.
8:00 a.m.
Welcome to Day 2 of the Golf.com Masters Live Blog, where we’re just trying to shoot a number and get in position for the back nine on Sunday. Four questions for today: How did leader Chad “Have you seen me lately?” Campbell (7-under) even qualify for the Masters? What does three-time major winner Padraig Harrington (3-under) have to do to get on television? Will Phil Mickelson make the cut? Is birdie-friendly Augusta National the new Bob Hope Classic?
Answers: Chad was 24th on the Top 30 U.S. Money List, an automatic Masters qualification. Face down Tiger in a major. The enigmatic Mickelson could climb the leaderboard or be flying home tonight—there’s no way to know. Expect tougher pin positions and green speeds (no more "juicy greens," as Miguel Angel Jiminez said Thursday), but if the weather holds, guys will be able to post scores.
(From website : http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2009/04/live-blogging-round-2-of-the-2009-masters.html)
