2017 Masters: Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, and 3 other things to watch on Friday at Augusta

What a wild, windy Thursday it was at Augusta National. Friday could provide more of the same at The Masters.

After a first-round, 7-under-par 65, Charley Hoffman will start Friday morning four shots clear of William McGirt at Augusta. If you’re a casual golf fan, those might not be names you know well, but don’t worry: big stars like Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and Rory McIlroy are all positioned just fine for the 72-hole long haul.

Another brutal day should be in store for players today, with winds expected to blow at up to 30 miles per hour throughout the morning and afternoon. It’s cool, too — an uncharacteristic morning in the high 40s and 50s in April for Augusta. If that holds out, it might not be a shock to only a handful players under par for the championship at day’s end.

Here’s five storylines to keep an eye on throughout today’s second round as players jockey for positioning ahead of the weekend.

Short answer: probably not!

Even with yesterday’s brutal conditions at Augusta, we’re following the typical blueprint for a major championship through one round: random name a bit out front with the stars stacked up and positioned well for the coming rounds behind him. Hoffman’s done this before, he’s got a track record of racing out to strong starts here in three previous starts — before falling off into the weekend.

Consider Hoffman’s Thursday card. Five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine, including a pair of birdie 2s on the par-3s at 12 and 16. That’s an otherworldly, unconscious stretch — especially after making it through Amen Corner unscathed. Cool! Here’s the problem: what Augusta giveth, it generally taketh away, eventually.

Kyle Porter of CBS perhaps said it best: we’ve got major championship lions chasing a gazelle with nowhere to hide. That doesn’t mean the gazelle won’t stay out ahead! But, right now, history would say it’s still more likely than not that Hoffman isn’t your winner — even starting Friday four shots clear of the field.

The world’s best player at the moment isn’t a factor in this tournament because he fell down his stairs the day before the biggest event in the sport. This is still a weird sentence to write, but, well, OK! Even with Hoffman far out in front, don’t be mistaken: this is Rory McIlroy’s golf tournament to win with Dustin Johnson out of the field.

Sometimes good enough is just fine to start a major championship. You don’t get green jackets for tearing it up on Rory salvaged his Thursday round. The brutal conditions were a stiff challenge for even the world’s best — and Rory wasn’t on his A game, no doubt. But an even par round is plenty good enough on a day when only 11 players in the field ended up under par. Keep an eye on him today — he’ll go off at 10:34 a.m. ET with Jon Rahm in what should by a dynamic group to watch on Masters Friday.

Good news for Phil Mickelson: A nice 1-under-par opening round has him in excellent position heading into Friday. Bad news: he’s officially an Old Dude, now.

If Phil would be able to Do It come the weekend, he’d break Jack Nicklaus’ record set in 1986 as the oldest Masters champion ever by just a few months. All that said, this isn’t some flash in the pan: Phil proved last year at the Open he’s still at the top of his game during his historic duel with Henrik Stenson. That hasn’t changed, even at 46.

But there’s plenty of other old dudes that are turning back the clock a bit. At 47, Ernie Els is a shadow of his former self — now ranking 410th in the world. His five-year Masters exemption from his 2012 Open Championship win exhausts itself after this week and without a top finish this will likely be his last Masters. An opening round of even-par sets himself up well to play his way into the 2018 field this weekend. Keep an eye on him today.

Also, Fred Couples! Even with his ailing back, the 57-year-old former winner is somehow always able to chop it around Augusta. He missed last year’s event and the following eight months of Champions Tour golf those back issues that have plagued his career. If his back can hold up, expect him to hang around this weekend. He’s finished T-20 or better five times since turning 50 here.

There’s a unique, special relationship Spanish players will always have with the Masters. This is the place where Seve Ballesteros was at his best, winning two green jackets with an artistic creativity that few have ever seen. Jose Maria Olazabal, who’s back in the field this year after missing the 2016 event, won two Masters titles in the 90s.

But no Spanish player has won a major championship since 1999. That’s primed to change thanks to Sergio Garcia and Rahm — perhaps even this week. On such a brutal day at Augusta, Garcia turned in one of the more impressive rounds of the field — a bogey-free, 1-under 71. Such a mistake free showing on a difficult day bodes well for a player who’s just getting better with age heading into Friday. Keep an eye on Sergio today.

The out-of-nowhere, day-job stories are normally reserved for the U.S. Open — but there’s one each year at The Masters, too. The winner of the U.S. Mid-Am, the American championship for amateur players 25 & older, always gets a bid to the tournament in a nod to founder Bobby Jones. But here’s the catch: no Mid-Am winner has ever made the cut at Augusta since the tournament started handing out the bid in 1989.

This year it’s 25-year-old Stewart Hagestad — a former seldom-used, back-of-the-roster guy at USC who’s now a financial analyst for a real estate firm in Manhattan. Two of his longtime friends? Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

After a solid 2-over round on Thursday, he’s hanging — and even beating — his pro golf star buddies. He’ll start Friday one behind Thomas and one ahead of Spieth as the tournament’s current low amateur. It’ll be one of the stories of the tournament if he can make the cut — and make history — today.