2014 Masters: Live scores, leaderboard updates and more from Friday’s second round at Augusta

We’ve hit the midpoint of the 2014 Masters, and Bubba Watson overwhelmed Augusta National and the rest of the field to take a three-shot lead heading into the weekend. Watson, who had the most impressive round on Thursday while playing bogey-free golf, made his charge with five straight birdies on the second nine to bolt past everyone on the leaderboard.

Watson set the early number that was not going to be matched by the later tee times, but some big names did put themselves in position with 36 more holes to play. As expected, 54-year-old Fred Couples is right there in his usual perch inside the top 10. While he’s been a full-time player on the senior circuit for four years now, Couples continues to use that lifetime invite as a former Masters champ and makes noise every year at Augusta. He always does this, makes a move and gets on the first page of the leaderboard after two rounds. A 1-under round of 71 on Friday put him at 2-under for the tournament. Now we get to the point in the week where Couples’ longshot chances have been extinguished in recent years. If he can hang around one more day, he’ll be one of the top stories again on Sunday.

Phil Mickelson made a little Masters history on Friday, but not the kind he was probably hoping for. He shot a 1-over 73 in the second round, finishing at 5-over and just on the wrong side of the cut line. Missing the cut snapped his streak of 16-straight made cuts at Augusta National. The streak was the eighth-longest in Masters history.

Mickelson was unable to get much going early, making the turn at even-par. He ran into issues at No. 12 with a series of poor bunker shots costing him. He went on to make a triple bogey, his second triple in two days. That bumped him to 7-over for the tournament. He needed a miracle finish to make the cut and nearly pulled it off with three birdies on his final five holes. If not for a bogey on No. 16, he would have pulled off the comeback and kept his streak alive.

Golf is truly a game of centimeters at Augusta National, with fractions of an inch making the difference between a great shot and a poor one. That could mean hitting a sprinkler head on an approach shot into the green like Rory McIlroy did, barely staying out of the water like Fred Couples or landing on the perfect spot on the green to catch the slope.

Brandt Snedeker pulled off the latter on the 18th green. His approach shot appeared to be long. It was headed over the back ridge and if it got there, Snedeker would have been left with a very tricky two-putt. Instead, the ball stopped just short of the crest of the slope and slowly began to trickle back to the pin. It picked up a little momentum and rolled all the way back, nearly going in.

Despite being one of the oldest players in the field, Fred Couples continues to churn out solid rounds at Augusta National. He followed an opening round of 71 with another round of 1-under on Friday and is now tied for sixth place.

Friday success at Augusta is nothing new for Couples. He’s now carded an under-par second round in each of the last four years. A quick start helped ensure he made it four-straight this year with two birdies on his first three holes. He made the turn at 2-under on the round and remained there before dropping a shot at the 17th. Couples nearly got the stroke back on No. 18, but just missed a birdie putt after a great approach.

What is is about Friday afternoon and bad bounces at the Masters? It was just about this time last year, late on Friday, when Tiger Woods hit the flagstick on the 15th, leading to what will probably go down as the biggest controversy in Masters history.

One year later, Tiger’s Nike stablemate, Rory McIlroy, while not sitting on the co-lead like Tiger, caught an awful break at the 13th green. Just like No. 15, the 13th is an easier par-5, and McIlroy was trying to get home in two from 165 yards. He hit what looked to be a fine enough shot but, unfortunately, his ball zeroed in on a sprinkler head on the side of the green and rocketed into the azaleas.

UPDATE: A few notable names are headed home early as Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia fail to make the cut at The Masters.

The majority of the field has already turned in their second-round scorecards and for many, that will be their last act of the 2014 Masters. The current cut line is sitting at 4-over and unless multiple players have major issues coming in, that is where it will stay.

Tiger Woods, as even the most casual of sports fans recognizes, is golf’s biggest attraction. So it should come as no surprise to learn that, with the world No. 1 recovering from recent back surgery and not in the field this week at Augusta, TV ratings for the Masters are taking a hit.

This on Friday from a statement from ESPN, which offers the first two rounds of the Masters before CBS takes over for Saturday and Sunday:

A recent talking point around the Masters is that Augusta National Golf Club, since its redesign and in the modern era, favors left-handed players. We’ve seen Phil Mickelson three times, Bubba Watson, and Mike Weir all win since 2003. Well, here’s another example of how Augusta is prejudiced against the right-handed players.

Bill Haas, who slept on the lead Thursday night, has tumbled down the board in his attempt to keep pace with Bubba Watson. Hitting shots one-handed, and facing the wrong way, just to get back on the course is not an ideal way to try and right the ship. A lefty could have easily knocked this up the fairway, but Haas had to get creative:

While many players struggled to tally five birdies through 36 holes at Augusta National, Bubba Watson had no problem racking up red numbers on Friday, including a streak of five straight birdies. The back-nine surge helped him build a three-stroke lead on the field.

Watson made the turn at even-par and was a stroke off the lead heading into No. 12. A brilliant tee shot set up a birdie at the difficult par-3. That was just the start of things. He nearly came away with an eagle on No. 13, tapping in for birdie instead. The streak continued at Nos. 14, 15 and 16, with Watson moving to 8-under for the tournament. He hit some exceptional shots during the stretch, but was also a little fortunate, including on this huge breaking birdie at No. 14.

Rory McIlroy loves exploring new parts of Augusta National Golf Club. He famously pull-hooked one off the course on No. 10 when he was in the final Sunday group in 2011, the start of his great unraveling that year. The ball came to rest around some cabins in the woods deep off the 10th fairway, an area on the grounds most golfers and media didn’t know existed. It lead to this iconic photo.

On Friday at the Masters, Rory again went off the tracks at the difficult par-4 fourth hole. I’m not sure whether he had the wrong club or what, but McIlroy completely airmailed the green and sent his ball bounding through the next tee area. It’s a really long par-3, so it’s not crazy that someone takes too much club and rockets his shot through the entire area around the green. Adam Scott, however, was going through his pre-shot routine when the ball came whizzing past his back.

The second round of the Masters is in full swing and while it’s still early, more-favorable scoring conditions have led to a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. Bubba Watson opened the day one shot off the lead, but more steady play has him at 4-under and holding a share of the lead.

Watson played a bogey-free round on Thursday and it’s been more of the same in the second round. He opened the round with six straight pars before a birdie at No. 7 moved him into a share of the lead. Another par at No. 8 has him bogey-free through 26 holes. Coming into the tournament, Watson had logged just one bogey-free round in 80 major championship rounds. If his streak continues much longer, Watson could be in great position to win a second green jacket.

Luke Donald owned up to making an uncharacteristically sloppy error when he grazed the sand with his wedge before hitting a shot from a bunker during Thursday’s opening round of the Masters. There was a twist to the two-shot penalty he incurred, however, when it turned out that an Augusta National patron ratted out the former world No. 1, according to Jay Busbee.

Rule 13-4 is simple and explicit -- you get docked two strokes for grounding a club in a hazard, and Donald did just that with his wedge before playing the shot on the par-four ninth. He initially wrote down a six for the hole but after officials informed him of the breach, he had to take an eight.

Look out!

Branden Grace was standing on the tee at the second hole of Amen Corner, the most famous par-3 in the world. The tee is up and well off to the left side of the 11th green, but not far enough for an extremely wild approach shot into 11 from dropping on top of Grace as he hit his tee shot over Rae’s Creek. Look closely as a ball comes parachuting in to the tee box as Grace makes his swing.

Tiger Woods may be watching and tweeting about the Masters from home this week, but the injured world No. 1 is very much present at Augusta National -- nowhere more so than on the par-5 15th hole, his personal Waterloo in the 2013 contest.

Thursday, a day before the 12-month anniversary of Woods’ golf clang heard ‘round the world, Dustin Johnson had his own Tiger moment, though sans drama and controversy.

The green jacket won’t be awarded until Sunday, but we don’t need to wait that long to figure out who will claim it. Even with 54 holes to play, we can use Masters history, recent trends and the process of elimination to narrow the field down to one. A lot of things have happened over the years at Augusta National and while there are firsts and rarities, things ultimately tend to repeat themselves. So let’s use that information to start cutting down the field.

No players withdrew following the first round and the cut won’t be made until after the second round, so right now we are still left with the full field of 97 players.

High pressure will dominate the weather over the southeastern United States. Lots of blue skies, nice warm afternoon temperatures, and generally light winds. There are no weather concerns this weekend at the Masters. The detailed forecast for Friday and the rest of the weekend can be found below, all times are eastern.

Conditions in August, GA: Click here for Current Weather Conditions | Look at Doppler Radar | Mobile Friendly Site | Mobile Radar

The 2014 Masters continues on Friday, and if it’s anything like the first round, it should be an eventful day at Augusta National. The combination of a difficult layout and dry conditions led to tough scoring conditions in the first round, with the course having the upper hand against most of the field. The result is a clustered leaderboard with just 19 players under par. Everyone will begin play on Friday chasing Bill Haas, who is 4-under, but a few notable names will need to play well to even make the weekend, yet alone work their way back into contention.

Phil Mickelson is among the players with work to do. He’ll open the second round at 4-over, eight strokes off the lead. Overall, he didn’t play poorly on Thursday with 13 pars, two birdies and a bogey. The problems came on two holes. A poor chip and a three-putt led to a triple bogey on No. 7. He ran into more trouble on No. 15 when his approach shot came up short and found the water. He went on to make a double bogey. If things stand where they are now, Mickelson would be in danger of missing the cut.