Charming Jordan Spieth is simply dominating the 79th Masters.
Check that. The kid is flat bulldozing the best players in the world.
Nope, make that: Unless maybe your name is Charley Hoffman, anyone planning on catching this guy this weekend better pack a telescope.
In a bravura performance that rewrote Augusta National history, Spieth shot a second-round 6-under-par 66 on Friday, good for a record-low 14-under 130 at the Masters’ midway point. His five-shot lead over Hoffman matches the widest ever posted after 36 holes, and the three players who did so previously — Raymond Floyd (1976), Jack Nicklaus (1975) and Herman Keiser (1946) — all went on to win.
“It’s really cool,” said Spieth, who has been stunning when it is considered he has played only six competitive rounds on such a sophisticated tract. “Any time you can set a record here is pretty awesome.”
Beyond Hoffman, 38 and playing in only his second Masters, the rest of the field is seven shots back or well over the horizon. Dustin Johnson strung together a record three-eagle round to reach 7 under (70-66-136), where he joined Justin Rose and Paul Casey. Phil Mickelson’s second-round 68 got him to 6 under, while Ernie Els was at minus-5.
Defending champion Bubba Watson shot his second 71 to stand 12 shots off the pace in a group that includes Tiger Woods (73-69) and Russell Henley. Favorite Rory McIlroy’s quest for his first green jacket finally gained traction with his 31 on the back nine, but he also trailed by dozen (71-71).
Hoffman’s 135 (67-68) would have been good enough for a two-shot lead on Watson at this point last year.
“It’s this year,” Hoffman said. “It’s not any other year. I’m just playing golf and I’ve only played 36 holes and we’ve got a lot of golf left.”
True, but others have already seen enough. Spieth’s 130 broke the mark Floyd (65-66-131) set 39 years ago, when he led wire-to-wire.
Said James Hahn, “There’s a 95 percent chance (Spieth) wins and a 5 percent chance he runs away with it.”
Despite continued good scoring conditions, the cut at 146 caught a number of notables, including Jim Furyk (147), Brandt Snedeker (147) and Ben Martin (148). Tom Watson, 65, who had a shot at becoming the oldest player to make the Masters cut, followed up a first-round 71 with an 81 (152).
If the field has one hope, it is that Spieth can’t be perfect for four days. Or can he? He carded 15 birdies in the first 36 holes opposed to one bogey. In one implausible stretch around the turn Friday, he missed a 4-footer for birdie on No. 7, a 5-footer for birdie on No. 9 and grazed the cup with a chip on a birdie chance on No. 11 and, despite all that, still took two more strokes from par over the five holes.
“Anybody in this field that’s playing well is capable of shooting 14 under the last two rounds,” Spieth said. “And I’ve got to be able to counter that with better than how they are doing right now.”
His performance at the par-5 No. 8 had to be seen to be believed. He drove into a fairway bunker, could only advance the ball 20 yards out of a disadvantageous lie and then sent a blind 229-yard utility club shot two within three feet of the cup, where he birdied. Walking off the green, Spieth said that Micah Fugitt, caddie for playing partner Billy Horschel, told him, “Man, that was good, even for you.”
“He’s on, and the greens are holding,” Els said. “And when you are on and your game is on, you can shoot these numbers at Augusta. It’s a long, long way from being finished, a lot of work to be done still, so we’ll see. But he’s been very, very aggressive.”
Johnson opened his day with a double bogey on No. 1 which dropped him to even par. Reckoning “it’s better to double the first hole than the last hole,” he went right after the par-2 second hole, hitting a 207-yard second shot with 5-iron to within 11 feet, where he canned his first eagle.
He followed that at the 570-yard eighth hole with a 252-yard 3-iron to 11 feet for his second eagle and then recorded a rare tap-in eagle at No. 15 when he nearly holed out a 205-yard 5-iron. While he said Augusta National sets up well for his game, he has just one top-20 finish in six appearances and missed the cut last year.
“I’ve been playing really good golf, and I’m continuing to play good golf,” he said. “I haven’t played my best golf the last two days, but I’ve played pretty good. Hopefully, it’s just going to keep getting better.”
Nevertheless, here’s a clip-and-save for the weekend: No one has led a Masters wire-to-wire since Floyd in 1976 and just three others did it before him: Nicklaus (1972), Arnold Palmer (1960) and Craig Wood (1941).
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