AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Ordinarily, Friday is when Tiger Woods starts tomake his move. In each of his four Masters wins, he has shot in the60s in the second round.
Despite shooting 74 on Friday after an opening-round 73, though,Woods is at 3 over par, a lurking tiger.
"I basically turned a 90 into a 74," Woods said after hitting theball in the water on the 12th and 13th holes, but making a toughbogey and a par.
"Yesterday I threw away a good round. Today I salvaged a bad one.I kept myself right in the ballgame." Woods stands five shots behindBrett Wetterich and Tim Clark, who share the lead at 2 under parheading into the third round of the Masters today.
"They're not going anywhere," said Woods, unfazed at being tiedfor 15th. "I played with Paul Casey and he shot a great round, andshot 68. You're not going to go low here. With the conditions comingup here on the weekend, we're all going to have to grind, whetheryou're a rookie or a vet. It doesn't matter."
Even defending champion Phil Mickelson, who's 5 over par aftershooting a second-round 73, thinks he has a shot after fretting thathe might not make the cut.
Wetterich, who's trying to become the first rookie to win theMasters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, followed his opening 69 with asecond-round 73.
"I feel pretty comfortable," Wetterich said. "I don't feel like Ishouldn't be at the top of the leaderboard. I'm playing well." Noquestion, the dry, fast conditions are keeping scores high. The cutwas at an 8-over-par 152, the highest cut since 1982. This cut alsois tied for the third-highest since the 36-hole cut was institutedin 1957.
Only four times in Masters history have the 36-hole leaders hadhigher scores.
The leaders were at even par in 1982 and 1954, and at 1 under in1949 and 1966.
Wetterich, a 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup player who became the firstplayer to go from qualifying school to the Ryder Cup team thefollowing year, birdied No. 9 and bogeyed Nos. 15 and 16 in a steadyround.
Clark, the South African co-leader, has gone 71-71 the first tworounds, giving him six straight rounds of par or better at Augusta.He finished second here last year, two shots behind Phil Mickelson,with a final-round 69 that was largely overlooked.
"No one's ever picked me to do well anywhere," said the 5-7, 165-pound Clark, who has played in only three tournaments this yearbecause of a neck injury.
"I'm a little surprised. My major record is decent. But even whenI was on the leaderboard [Thursday], no one mentioned me. Maybe thatwill give me a little more incentive. It probably will take mewinning a major tournament for people to recognize me." Then again,the 36-hole leaderboard of this Masters is filled with names thatare far from household words.
In third place, one shot back, is Augusta resident Vaughn Taylor,another member of the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Jerry Kelly, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson and first-round co-leaderJustin Rose are tied for fourth, two shots behind the leaders.
Casey and Padraig Harrington, who each shot 68, had the bestrounds of the day.
Among the notables who missed the cut are Michael Campbell, ErnieEls, Colin Montgomery, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton, who all havewon majors, and Chris DiMarco, who has knocked on the door.
Also gone are former Masters champions Tom Watson, Mark O'Meara,Bernhard Langer, Raymond Floyd, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros.
The unknowns at the top of the leaderboard are intent onovercoming their lack of experience. But they also know that holdingoff veterans like Woods won't be easy.
But it won't be easy for the veterans, either.
"This course is just playing so tough right now," Clark said. "Ifyou are just a little bit off your game -- your driving, yourputting or anything -- it's going to be tough to score.
"What's Tiger? Three over? That's still very much in thetournament."
hgould@suntimes.com
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