By Daniel Rapaport
AUGUSTA, Ga.—The funny part is it’s not even surprising anymore. Jordan Spieth trudged through the golfing wilderness for nearly four years, and two months of good play is all the proof we needed. After a second-round 68 that has him at five-under total, only a handful of guys are beating him through 36 holes at the Masters, and that sounds about right. It doesn’t feel fluky or unsustainable. It feels … normal.

Take what happened on the ninth hole on Thursday. He’d played a solid front nine, one under through eight, nothing crazy but exactly what you’re looking for to kick off a major. Then he block-slices his tee shot into the trees and caddie Michael Greller goes quiet in the worst possible moment. Spieth tries a shot that we’re still not sure is possible, clangs a tree dead-on, knocks one by the green, hits a solid pitch and three-jacks from five feet. Triple bogey.

Two months ago, that’d torpedo his chances of contending. It’d be a war against the cut line. And, for the rest of us watching, it’d feel like water finding its level. That’s the player he’d become.

This time? Spieth walked stone-faced to the 10th tee, deep in thought. When he arrived, he locked eyes with an Augusta member he recognized. The steely-eyed stare turned into a warm smile. “Hey, man! How are you?” A few whispers back and forth, and the debacle had been banished to the past. He then roasted a 3-wood, knocked his approach to the fat side of the green, and canned the 17-footer for birdie. He played the remaining eight holes in two under to get in the house under par, a hugely important psychological boost.

“Having made a triple and having five-over-par holes through two rounds, I feel pretty good about being at five-under,” Spieth said. “That’s, what, eight birdies and an eagle on a very difficult golf course. I’d probably sign up for a similar score for the next few days.”

Friday’s round was devoid of anything quite so volatile—five birdies and a lone bogey. The most electric moment came on the 17th green, where he poured in a 30-footer and punctuated it with a fist pump. A cynic might call the round boring, but boring works on the weekdays of major weeks. He’s hit 30 of 36 greens thus far, giving himself look after look. Tap-in pars galore, which is just what the doctor ordered. There’s plenty of time for fireworks, and Spieth would be the perfect man to bring them.

Kevin C. Cox
Jordan Spieth plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during the second round of the Masters.

Yes, the World No. 38 will be the centre of attention this weekend, the main attraction in this Tiger-less void. And it’s all been building toward this weekend—starting in Phoenix, where shot 61 on Saturday to grab the 54-hole lead. Then it was up to Pebble Beach, where he played in the final group yet again and failed to win yet again. Down to L.A., another solid finish at the Genesis Invitational. A T-4 at Bay Hill, a T-9 at the Match Play and then finally, finally, a return to glory in his home state.

The win at the Valero Texas Open bumped him to borderline-favourite status coming into this tournament, which sounded crazy at first until you thought about it for a second. The dude finished second, first, second in his first three Masters. He had three majors before his 24th birthday. He’s Jordan Freakin’ Spieth, and this is Augusta National.

“Almost regardless of form, regardless of if you just won or if you’ve missed the previous cut, it really makes no difference to me in my confidence level when I pull into Magnolia Lane,” he said last week. “It’s just such a unique golf course in that it’s a lot of shot-making versus what you get in a lot of other places. And then the greens require just so much imagination, it almost feels like a totally different game sometimes there.”

Ehhhh. It’s a nice sentiment heading into your last start before the Masters. Downside protection, if you will—had he missed the cut, he’d be able to tell himself that it doesn’t matter. But he didn’t miss the cut. He won, and the swagger has returned. And now he’s back at Augusta National, confident as hell, firmly in the mix heading into the weekend. His comfort zone.

The post Jordan Spieth is contending, and it’s not even a little bit fluky appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Five months ago, Bryson DeChambeau might not have been too happy with shooting five-under at the Masters. After all, he famously declared then that Augusta National would play as a par 67 for him.

Well, things have changed.

DeChambeau finally matched that target score during Friday’s second round of the 2021 Masters—and he was in great spirits after.

“Clearly the par was 74 for me last year,” DeChambeau said with a laugh when asked about his 67 comment. “But I would say for the most part, I would say this golf course is an amazing, spectacular, challenging venue and championship. One of the most amazing things about this place is that it can turn on you real quick when you least expect it. For example, last year in November you had a lot of guys going low and this year, that’s not the case.”

No, it’s not. Although, the course did play more than a stroke easier than a brutal opening round. DeChambeau, however, improved by much more than that, shedding nine shots from Thursday’s score to move into red numbers heading into the weekend.

“I finally felt like I was seeing lines out there for the first time in five years it feels like or the five times I’ve played it in tournament conditions,” DeChambeau said. “That excites me for sure. I think if I can ball-strike it a little better . . . and I can keep myself in a positive mindset, and working toward making a lot of birdies, you never know.”

DeChambeau is six shots behind leader Justin Rose at the midway point, but crazier things have happened. Jackie Burke Jr. holds the record for the biggest 36-hole comeback when he won in 1956 tournament despite trailing by eight shots through two rounds.

DeChambeau has had to get used to being without the detailed green-reading books that he (and most tour pros) use at other events because Augusta National doesn’t allow them. But the reigning U.S. Open champ says he’s enjoying the extra challenge in trying to figure out the Masters venue.

“It’s my biggest match, for sure,” DeChambeau said of Augusta National. “Not having the help that sometimes I have on the golf course at other venues with greensbooks and, you know, not having the calibration tools that I usually use. It’s definitely a test and something I’m willing to stand up to and try to face the challenge and try to conquer it. It’s an interesting challenge for me and I love it.”

If he shoots “par” a couple more times over the weekend, he’s going to love it even more.

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By Daniel Rapaport
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Viktor Hovland sits at one-under after 36 holes of the Masters, six back of Justin Rose’s lead heading into the weekend. On the surface, that’s not particularly noteworthy. But not all one unders are created equally, and these two days have been an absolutely wild ride.

The 23-year-old Norwegian’s week started with a disastrous triple bogey on Thursday, the product of a pulled drive into the trees and a big ol’ mess afterwards. But he was back to even par when he stepped to the seventh tee thanks to three birdies in a five-hole stretch, only to then make three bogeys in a four-hole stretch, only to make two birdies in his next three holes.

“Yeah, it was a pretty wild round of golf,” he said. Indeed.

It all added up to a rollercoaster 73, and we hope you’re not tired yet because it only gets nuttier from here.

On Friday, he got off to an ideal start, birdieing the par-5 second and taking advantage of the short par-4 third to get back into red numbers for the tournament. After a par at four, he bogeyed the difficult fifth. All good, though—bogeys happen, especially on hard holes, and the pin on No. 6 was gettable. His approach into the par 3 was right on line but came up short and tumbled down the hill. Then his chip came up short and tumbled down the hill. On in three, two putts, and that’s a double bogey.

He dropped additional shots on 9 and 11 to drop outside the cutline, officially nervous territory. Then he birdied 13 with a gorgeous approach and two-putt, chipped in for eagle from long of 15—the same spot where three guys put it in the water on Thursday¬—holed an 18-footer on 16 for birdie, and chipped in again on 17 for one final birdie.

And remember, this is a guy who said he “sucked at chipping” after winning his first PGA Tour event.

The man has an eagle, 10 birdies, 16 pars, six bogeys, a double and a triple … and we’re only at the halfway point. He was asked to describe his round in comparison with yesterdays.

“Similar fashion,” he said. Surely, a good ol’ par streak sounds nice right about now.

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