On milder day, Fowler shoots 67 as 2016 champion Willett misses cut

The Augusta National course does not respect any predictions, any past champion, any reputation, any statistician, any leader or any commentator, and seems to delight in juggling prospective winners around to cause odds makers great anxiety and keep them on their toes. Danny Willett, the 2016 winner blew six shots on the first hole in two days and ruled himself out of the reckoning by missing the cut. 

Were expectations and vaulting ambition set too high? Charley Hoffman who played and putted out of his skin on Thursday and started well by going to 8 under early, soon had to surrender a good part of his lead  bringing back memories of his rollercoaster ride of a couple of years back. Jordan Spieth did not hit a bad shot to the 15th on Thursday;  his ball just encountered wind shear and dropped well short of the intended landing zone while, Rickie Fowler’s perfectly struck second on the same hole, on Friday, overflew the green and got wet.

 The fact is that Augusta National lies near the centre of a vast geographic bowl and when it blows, the wind comes rushing down the slopes, spins around the loblolly pines, does a truly wanton swirl around Amen corner and releases unpredictably over the creek at 13 and 15. Also, under this inverted bowl they call the sky, where under these golfers painfully toil and die (metaphorically speaking), just when a player thinks of soaring high,  gravity seems to magically increase to pull him down.  Remain patient, humble and without expectation, this course reminds us, and also that praying doesn’t help. Only very high focus, to the exclusion of all else (imagine Arjuna hitting the eye of the fish through its reflection in the water), to the shot at hand and little concern about the outcome may be rewarded (think of Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters).

The second round opened warmer than Thursday but it was still very cool. And while it was more benign  with wind conditions only at 25 mph versus the 50 mph on Thursday, the wind gusts still lifted sand out of bunkers and sent spectator caps flying hither and thither. The scores that should have been much better were actually worse. The much vaunted top players in the world — Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy — were not showing any colour while Phil Mickelson, a perpetual favourite of the patrons was using his very considerable knowledge and experience of this course to put himself in a good position to not just challenge but to seriously contend. Fifty-eight-year-old Fred Couples would’ve been right up there on the leaderboard if it weren’t for an unfortunate double on the relatively easy par-3 sixth, which diluted  his four birdies in the first half. 

Would it not be fantastic for the game if one of these two were to win another Green Jacket? By the end of the day, Spieth played well to be level par for the tournament but McIlroy and Day just could not get it going. 

Each of the holes at Augusta is named after a flowering and/or aromatic native tree, bush or shrub. These names add a mystique all of their own. The 12th, for instance, is aptly and ironically called Golden Bell, because this is at the cusp of Amen Corner, and often, this bell tolls for thee, dear golfer! Some players, repeatedly hard done by, call this hole Jezebel (after the Biblical princess who was considered to be a shameless, morally wanton, evil and scheming  woman).

Augusta National takes particular pride in their native trees and plants. In their extension and development of territory beyond the Old Berckmans Road, they have planted an estimated 230,000 (yes, two hundred and thirty thousand) native trees, bushes and shrubs in just the last six months. All visitors marvel at the multihued and fragrant flora at this great venue, and regulars remember well the songs that the wind whispers and sings as it caresses the majestic and towering pines. Delhi Golf Club members may also soon be in for a similar treat as plans are being worked at to once again “nativise” their ancient forests with domestic flowering and/or aromatic trees, bushes and shrubs.

Every player leaves some shots out there; some putts don’t drop, some bounces are plain unlucky and often conditions are different in the morning from the afternoon. Those are just normal unfortunate breaks and typically outweigh the impossible shots that are made, such as chip-ins from way off the green and holes in one, et cetera. But now, at the end of day 2, the die is pretty well cast. The number of players under par has shrunk to just six from yesterday’s eleven, but it’s reasonable to expect that, with truly benign conditions predicted for the final two days, anyone within eight shots of the lead could end up winning. That means anyone of the 19 players and includes hot favourites Spieth, McIlroy, Day, Mickelson and of course, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia and the surprising young Belgian Thomas Pieters. Additionally, there is a bunch of Danes who are sending power to Sore Kjeldsen to pull off a surprise win! So now this writer must stick his neck out and make some predictions.

Spieth and McIlroy have both “lost” this major from winning positions in the past and therefore, despite valiant attempts that they will make, I rule them out. Hoffman will fade as he did before. Day has had some fitness problems and the recent trauma with his mother’s illness leaves him not quite ready; even his body language this year is not that of a winner. While Garcia has steadied down, not least because of reportedly forging a suitable romantic relationship, his game will not sustain the pressure of the prolonged gladiatorial contest that winning will entail. Pieters might falter under pressure and that essentially leaves just Fowler. My money is on him. His time, as I reported yesterday, has come. However, I will not mind if he is pushed aside by either of Couples or Phil Mickelson(in that order). Both are vastly experienced and have won the Green Jacket in the past and it will be truly magical for one of them to win. Saturday will set the stage for yet another remarkable final act on Sunday where surprise may still be the principal actor.