The Masters Day 2: Tiger Woods makes cut, McIlroy fails in stop-start Friday

Augusta delivered some thunderstorms yesterday which halted proceedings and saw some of the action move into Saturday morning. Brooks Koepka extended to a two-shot lead after a great second round. Friday saw plenty of stars miss the cut and exit the tournament, such as favourite Rory McIlroy.

The feel-good story is undoubtedly 5-time Masters winner Tiger Woods making the cut following his crash which had seen him suffer a serious injury to his right leg. Woods was somewhat lucky to find his way through at +3 and was hugely reliant on Justin Thomas’ late bogey to see him through to Sunday. It was a heroic effort from the ultimate golf legend.

Unfortunately, one of the favourites Rory McIlroy was unable to make any impression in the second round as he only managed +5 in the end. The Northern Irishman showed great potential with the new driver and putter but failed to put it all together at Augusta. The question begs whether McIlroy feels the pressure at Augusta as the only major he has failed to win? Does he feel the pressure to complete the grand slam.

Along with Rory, Bryson DeChambeau, Francisco Molinari and Kurt Kitayama all missed the cut at this famous course.

At the front, Brooks Koepka was mightily impressive as he built on his spectacular first round. He added a round of 67 in the early, good conditions of the Friday. John Rahm kept himself interested as he closed within two shots of the leader. Koepka has played incredibly smart and consistent so far and will not be beaten easily.

An ongoing fantastic story is one of an amateur. The US Amateur champion Sam Bennett has found himself at -8 after 36 holes, the best of an amateur since 1958. He has played with such composure and maturity and is surely one for the future. The pressure is now on to maintain his golden start.

Friday was stopped around 10pm local time due to a threat of thunderstorms. It was terrifying to see trees fall on the 17th tee where fortunately there were no injuries. The weather for later on Saturday looks appalling, which will surely throw the cats amongst the pigeons.