AUGUSTA, Ga. — It's an overcast, temperate day at Augusta National Golf Club, and Justin Rose has turned this into a tightly-packed leaderboard.
After shooting a 65 on Thursday, he shot 2-over par on the front nine on Friday morning, but had three birdies on the back nine to finish at a 7 under again. As of 1:45 p.m. Central time, Rose holds a two-shot lead over Marc Leishman, who had six birdies in a round of 67.
I spent the morning bouncing between three groups and watched Tony Finau climb the leaderboard.
He started at 2-over but got to even by making eagle at No. 2, then birdied Nos. 6, 8, 9 and 10 to reach 4-under. His power plays well at the Masters, but his putting has let him down consistently during his career, especially on Sundays.
Despite his tremendous power and status as a top American golfer, he has won only once on the PGA Tour and never on the continental U.S., his only victory coming in Puerto Rico in 2016.
Jordan Spieth birdied the second and remains at 2-under, and former 3M Open champion Michael Thompson has made a move, making birdies at 2, 3 and 8 to get to 2-under.
Rose coming back to the pack is going to keep a lot of big names in the tournament.
Bryson DeChambeau teed off on No. 1 with a three-wood instead of driver, a departure from his first-round strategy but again hit the ball well right. He saved par and is 1-under for the round, at 3-over for the tourney.
Justin Thomas is 2-under for the round and 1-under for the tournament.
The greens have turned from purple to greenish-brown because of the lack of direct sunlight. There is a chance of rain in the afternoon.
Check on startribune.com and in the newspaper for my pieces wrapping up Round 2.
