Where to begin on a Masters Friday during which the leaderboard turned from dishwater to champagne, from scrambled eggs to caviar?
Let’s take it from the top, since you never want to pass up the chance to noodle over one of golf’s favorite puzzles.
For it’s time once more to play: What’s under Sergio Garcia’s Head Cover?
The Spanish enigma has placed himself once more atop a major tournament leaderboard, meaning that he willingly has moved into range of every armchair analyst who can’t wait to tell you why Garcia has avoided winning any of the four big ones. (Their theories range from: Can’t breathe in the clutch to can’t putt pretty much any time).
On Friday, he shot a 3-under 69 to go 4 under at the Masters’ halfway point. That joined him with three others at the summit. Yes, it got awfully crowded up there. What, you thought the Charley Hoffman runaway train was a thing?
Hoffman, who held a gaping four-shot first-round lead, backed up, shooting 75 (10 strokes higher than the day before). Also at 4 under was the kiddie’s favorite, Rickie Fowler, and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, a Masters rookie.
Within a mere five shots of that lead was quite a colorful assortment of contenders. A little something for everyone. The golden oldies — Fred Couples (1 under) and Phil Mickelson (even par). A resurrected Jordan Spieth (even). Some overseas star power — Justin Rose (1 under), Jon Rahm (1 under) and Rory McIlroy (1 over). A popular former champion — Adam Scott (even par). A local favorite — Matt Kuchar (1 over).
Not returning for the weekend, however, is Danny Willett, who finished a shot beneath the cut line at 7 over, marking the 10th time a defending champion has failed to make the cut. Former two-time champion Bubba Watson (8 over) and the world’s No. 5-ranked player, Henrik Stenson (8 over), also have left the building.
But even for a tournament momentarily rocked by the absence of world’s No. 1 Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods, plenty of intrigue has returned. More, really, than you can shake a hybrid at.
Now, whether Garcia can separate himself from this great glob of golfing goodness is the matter at hand. It certainly would be helpful to the cause if he continued to get off to the kind of start he did Friday.
For the first time in his memory — which extends over 18 previous Masters appearances — Garcia birdied the first three holes of a round. Pair that with a par save from a plugged lie on No. 12 that Garcia called, “hands down, the best bunker shot I’ve ever hit,” and you understand why his spirit seemed so light.
“I want to make sure that I keep riding that wave and go out there (Saturday), be positive, be like I’ve been the first two days,” he said.
About the only thing that could slow Garcia on Friday was an error by the Masters scorekeepers, who momentarily posted a triple bogey for him at No. 10 rather than the bogey he actually suffered. Even the scoreboards here are out to get him, you see. But no matter. “The most important thing is I knew where I stood,” he said.
Confidence is kind of a big deal in this case. El Nino is 37 now, once a phenom, a 21-time winner on the PGA and European Tours, the 2008 Players Championship winner. But never a major winner. In 73 career major appearances, he has been a runner-up four times and top-10 finisher a stunning 22 times. It’s not a lot of fun to knock so often at the door and never get admitted.
So frustrated was Garcia after a third-round 75 that bumped him out of Masters contention in 2012, he raised the verbal white flag. “I’m not good enough. … I don’t have the thing I need to have. … I need to play for second or third place,” he told the Spanish media.
It was quite the different Garcia speaking Friday afternoon. Somebody has been buying his sports psychology in bulk.
“Yeah, I was frustrated (in 2012),” he said. “I probably didn’t accept things as well as I should have. And I’ve shown myself many times after that I can contend and I can truly feel like I can win (a major). Not only one, but more than one.”
Many of the post-round questions involved the subject of change. Changes in his ability to deal with pressure. Changes in attitude. It struck a nerve, but a good one.
“You guys don’t like me? You want me to change?” he joked.
But seriously, he added, “I think that I’m a little bit calmer now. I think that I’m working on trying to accept things, which can happen here and can happen anywhere. It’s part of golf. It’s not easy. It’s much easier to say than to do it.”
There is an added twist this year to Garcia’s push for that elusive first major.
This Masters ends on what would have been the late Seve Ballesteros’ 60th birthday. He was the swashbuckling two-time champion (1980 and ’83) who planted the Spanish flag at the Masters. Imagine the sentiment that could be mined from a Garcia victory Sunday.
“It would mean a lot. It’s difficult to describe it until it happens. But at the same time, it’s Friday afternoon. It’s not Sunday,” Garcia said.
“Hopefully, we’ll be standing here, and we’ll be talking about that feeling again. That would be the best thing that could happen to me. I’m going to do my best to make sure that I’m here (Sunday) to tell you how it feels.”
Listen: The AJC’s Jeff Schultz and Steve Hummer and WSB’s Jay Black discuss the second round:
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