2012 Masters Results 2nd Rd: Tiger Makes Cut, Couples and Dufner Leading Field

The second round of the 2012 Masters saw a lot of guys making a move towards the top of the leaderboard. One of the biggest stories Friday at Augusta was Phil Mickelson’s round of 68, which catapulted him from the bottom of the barrel to a tie for 11^th place entering Saturday.

“The biggest thing about today’s round was, strategically, I didn’t make the mistakes I made yesterday in putting the ball in the wrong spots I couldn’t get up and down,” lefty said. “Today, I put the ball in the right spot, where I could get up and down and salvaged a bunch of pars and birdies because I was in the proper position.”

Another player making headlines is 52-year-old Fred Couples, who positioned himself for a second green jacket. The 1992 Masters champion turned the clock back Friday, shooting an eye-popping 67 (-5) to draw even with fellow American Jason Dufner. Five players were tied for third place at -4, including Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westbrook.

“It was a nice round. Looking at the conditions it felt good, it wasn’t easy at all,” said the Spaniard, who a 68 in second round. “It puts us in a good situation going into the weekend and hopefully we keep it going.”

As far as that other guy by the name of Tiger Woods, the second round was even worse than his first. After scrambling to finish Thursday afternoon Even, more frustration and flat-out bad shot making followed him all day Friday. In the end, Woods shot three over par, 75, barely making the cut. After throwing, kicking and yelling at his clubs all day long, Woods composed himself and explained his frustrating day.

“I just tried to give everything I had on each every single shot,” Woods said. “I tried to stay focused and put the next shot where I wanted to put it. That wasn’t the case most of the times but I was grinding hard.

“I didn’t quite have it today with my swing. I just had to hang in there and be patient. Unfortunately, I played the par 3s three over and the par 5s not so good either. So, if I clean those up then I’m under par. I was two under through three, and then I just blew that.”

When asked about his chances to pull off one of the most incredible comeback in Masters history, Woods remained optimistic. It’s clear that the key for him to be able to get his 15^th major tournament title at Augusta is going to depend on what kind of round he shoots Saturday. Woods is scheduled to tee off at 10:35 AM ET Saturday morning.

“That’s one of the neat things about this tournament — it’s a 10-shot rule — anybody can still win the golf tournament,” he added. “Guys have won this tournament from five and six back going into the back-9. I just need to cut that down a little bit tomorrow, play a good solid round, cut that deficit down and get off to a quick start Sunday again like I did last year.”