The Masters Halfway Update: Hoping for the return of final round roars amid the chaos

TO say the least, this has been a peculiar Masters. On the course, it has been led by a Pole and a Norwegian – countries more used to competing in the Eurovision Song Contest than the first major championship of the year – and there was also a point, late Friday, when it was being led by two men who don’t play on the PGA Tour – LIV rebel Brooks Koepka (who remains the pace-setter) and the amateur star Sam Bennett (who is still at college and is now third behind Jon Rahm).

Meanwhile, off the course, there was a miraculously escape from injury or loss of life when three Georgia Pines collapsed near the 17th tee. It seems such a dramatic line to write about a golf tournament and yet the footage reveals how fortunate those near-by were. Thankfully its groaning descent provided sufficient warning for those in its path and, even more thankfully, it did not land among sitting patrons.

What happens next? Let’s take a look.

How it stands

Koepka has been brilliant through 36 holes and the contrast with his game 12 months ago is vast. Then, he left the property punching the window of his courtesy car in frustration. Now, he has ridden the wave of winning last week’s LIV event to card 65-67 which leaves him on 12-under for the week.

Rahm had played nine holes of his second round when bad weather and the fallen trees forced an early end to the action last night. Scottie Scheffler closed last year’s tournament with a four-putt double bogey, can Rahm win this year when opening with the same score? He’s been scintillating since that pratfall but the weather is due to produce more problems – possibly delays, definitely cold conditions. It might make his chase more complex.

The superb Bennett is in the clubhouse on 8-under and impresses all with his game and strength of mind. He’s also two clear of Collin Morikawa, who has played 36 holes, and Viktor Hovland, who has eight holes of his second round to complete.

Are we due some roars at Augusta?

Traditionally the back nine on Sunday produces a thrilling spectacle, with the cheers of the patrons echoing through the trees. For a long while, however, it was almost as traditional to mourn their passing. It was particularly so in the wake of the club’s decision to Tiger-proof the course in the early years of the 21st century, when Trevor Immelman prevailed in a slog and Zach Johnson plotted his way to triumph by passing up on the opportunity to thrill the crowds and laying up on every par-5.

Perhaps the greatest example of folk bemoaning the lack of roars was when Fuzzy Zoeller sighed “You don’t hear roars from the crowd any more – it’s like a morgue” in 1988. 1988! Just two years after Jack Nicklaus claimed victory amid the joy of the most dramatic Sunday back nine of them all.

His words might have had more relevance if repeated earlier this week because recent Sundays at Augusta have lacked drama. In fact, at the start of four of the last five the 54-hole leader had an advantage of three or four shots and converted the win with relatively little fuss. The leaderboard is looking very stretched at the moment and, if the weather makes life difficult for the chasers still out there, it might become more so. Fingers crossed for some compacting ahead of the final round (which might, in any case, be delayed until Monday).

In-play stats

A disrupted event is perhaps more likely to produce outliers, but it’s worth remembering that since 2000 every single winner of the Green Jacket was T12th or better at halfway – and all but one was tied eighth or better. Not one winner was more than six shots back after 36 holes.

In theory, Rahm has the capacity to catch and pass Koepka but in reality catching him might be the limit. If 12-under is the halfway lead, even someone like Jordan Spieth has to achieve something no-one else has this century: he, Jason Day and Sam Burns are in the clubhouse on 5-under. They’re tied sixth but need Koepka (and Rahm) to have problems in addition to making headway themselves.

Can anyone still out on the course get closer than that trio and inside the magic half-dozen blows?

In-play pick: Shane Lowry @ 55/1

Hopefully Spieth, our main pre-tournament selection, can confound history. Hopefully, too, our outsider Chris Kirk can make the most of the two par-5s to come on his second round back nine. He’s currently 3-under through 12 after having something of a Rahm-like start on Thursday (a double bogey at the second).

Let’s add Shane Lowry and hope that he returns in the Saturday morning cold with a putter that he has heated up. He’s level-par through 13 holes of his second round, 4-under for the tournament, and has it in him to squeeze two shots closer by the end of the second round. Tee-to-green his game has been excellent this week, but he’s missed a series of golden opportunities on the putting surface. Tweak that and he can still be a threat.

Final thought

Looking ahead to whenever the last lap starts, remember the hoary old pre-final round sentiment that “anyone can win it”. Sooner or later this might prove to be true but if anyone emerges from outside the top 10 to have a natter with Jim Nantz in the Butler Cabin on Sunday evening, he will be the first man to have done so since Art Wall Jr. in 1959. Yes, 64 years ago. This century, all 23 winners were tied fifth or better and 19 of them tied second or better.