Masters notebook: McIlroy overcomes shaky front nine to easily make cut

Rory McIlroy had a Grand Slam on his mind entering the 79th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

By the time he made the turn in the second round, he was more concerned with making the cut than making history.

McIlroy was on the wrong side of the cut line after a 4-over 40 on the front nine left him at 3-over par through 27 holes, but he looked more like the No. 1 player in the world on the back nine. He shot a 5-under 31 to secure his place on the weekend and even move into the top 20.

McIlroy’s second consecutive 1-under 71 Friday has him tied for 19th, albeit 12 strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth.

“I missed a couple of really short putts and that affected my confidence a little bit,” McIlroy said. “I’m really proud of myself to fight back and play 5 under on the back nine and get back into it. It’s nice just to get some kind of momentum going into the weekend. It seems I’m going to need four more nines like that by the looks of it.”

At the age of 25, McIlroy is trying to complete the career Grand Slam this week and win three successive majors, having captured the 2014 British Open and PGA Championship.

“It will take, obviously, something extraordinary from myself to get up there, but you never know. I know better than most people what can happen with the lead around here,” said McIlroy, referring to his collapse in the 2011 Masters with a final-round 80 to drop from the lead to a tie for 15th.

Woods out of woods?

Tiger Woods shot a 3-under-par 69 on Friday and was asked when he last played a round on the PGA Tour this well. “I have no idea,” the four-time Masters winner responded.

Woods, who has completed 72 holes in just two of his past nine PGA Tour events dating back to 2013 because of a combination of poor play and health issues, used the 69 to move into a tie for 19th at 2-under 142.

He birdied the first hole Friday but a bogey on the sixth still had him 1 over for the tournament. He played bogey-free the remainder of the round with birdies on holes 7, 8 and 11.

“I’m very proud of what I've done, to be able to dig it out the way I have,” said Woods, who had struggled mightily with his short game in his most recent events. “I told you guys on Tuesday I was at a pretty low one in my career, but to basically change an entire pattern like that and put it together and put it in a position where I can compete in a major championship like this is something I'm very proud of.”

Cutting out

Most of the marquee names in the tournament were among the 55 professionals that made the cut at 2-over 146 in a field of just 90 pros.

Eleven players missed by a shot including Bernhard Langer, Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker, last week’s Shell Houston Open winner J.B. Holmes despite rallying to play his final six holes 3 under, and Jim Furyk, who will have extra time to spend this weekend on the Grand Strand at festivities for Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am.

Also missing the cut were reigning FedExCup champion Billy Horschel, Ben Martin, Brian Harmon, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and 55-year-old Fred Couples, who missed the weekend for just the third time in 31 Masters.

Conners displays skills

Though none of the seven amateurs in the field made the cut to earn the Silver Cup as the low amateur, Corey Conners still made quite an impression Friday.

The 2014 U.S. Amateur runner-up to Gunn Yang followed up an opening-round 80 with a 3-under 69 to post the low score among amateurs by a stroke over U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Byron Meth at 5-over 149.

Conners birdied three of his first five holes to quickly get to 3 under, then closed out his round by playing his final six holes 3 under.

“I think there's less pressure today,” Conners said. “It’s easier to be relaxed when you're playing well and I had a lot of fun.”

Conners shared medalist honors in Coastal Carolina’s 2014 General Jim Hackler with CCU’s Andrew Dorn as a senior at Kent State, and finished third at the TPC Myrtle Beach in 2013. Conners also participated in the Can-Am Junior Team matches at Wachesaw Plantation in Murrells Inlet as a teenager.

He turned pro following Friday’s round and is entered in next week’s RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island.

Scott Harvey, a property manager in Greensboro, N.C., who won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur, shot an 81 Friday and finished fifth among the amateurs at 13-over 157.

Conditional status

There are 28 players under par and 32 at par or better through 36 holes.

Will the favorable golf course scoring conditions remain through the weekend, or will the greens become firm and fast as they customarily are on a Masters weekend.

“The balls were spinning back, 5-irons were making ball marks, things like that, things that you just don't normally find here,” Woods said. “But it's up to the [tournament] committee. … It’s quiet out there, there's no sub airs going. If they turn the sub airs on, they can suck the moisture out of this thing and get them firm, or they can live with it like it is, and we can go out there and make a bunch of birdies.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Masters notebook: McIlroy overcomes shaky front nine to easily make cut."