What we learned on Day 2 of The Masters Tournament
Round 2 of the 2024 Masters is in the books, and boy, was that fun or what? The blustery wind was causing mayhem at Augusta National Golf Club, leading to high scores and separating the contenders from the pretenders. After the dust settled, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa stood tied for the lead at 6 under par.
Twenty-nine players were sent home on Friday after the cut, and the beat-up survivors will return to Augusta to fight through the weekend.
Here's what we learned on a chaotic Day 2 of The Masters.
Scottie Scheffler is (still) the man to beat
Scheffler braved the elements to shoot an even-par 72 in the second round, but considering the circumstances, it was one of his most impressive rounds of the year. The afternoon wave was tested with high winds and a ferociously firm, fast golf course. Most players flunked that test. Rory McIlroy, who played with Scheffler, shot a 5-over 77. Justin Thomas shot a 7-over 79. Viktor Hovland limped to a 9-over 81.
It was a brilliant display of golf from the world's No. 1 player, and he's still the decisive favorite entering the weekend.
Tiger Woods could... win The Masters???
If Scheffler's 72 was brilliant, Woods' round was astonishing. The 48-year-old, who played only one full round of competitive golf in 2024 entering the week, grinded out an even-par round in the wind to finish at +1 through two days. He was one of just 14 players in the field to shoot even par or better on Friday. Oh, and he had to play five extra holes in the morning to finish his first round, so he barely had any time to recover before teeing it up for his second.
Woods is only seven shots back of the lead heading into the weekend, and he has a real chance to contend if his body holds up for two more days. Raise your hand if you saw this coming. Yeah, us either.
Ludvig Aberg is the real deal
We didn't know what to expect from Aberg in his first career major championship start. The 24-year-old is oozing with talent, but majors are a different animal, as is Augusta National in your first attempt.
Well, at least we thought.
The rising superstar shot the low round of the day with a 3-under 69, and he now sits in solo seventh place, four shots back of the leaders. If he's able to chase down the lead and win the green jacket, Aberg will become just the seventh player to ever win a major championship on their first try.
Rory McIlroy will likely have to wait another year for the career Grand Slam
McIlroy wants nothing more than to win the green jacket and become the sixth player to win the career Grand Slam, but it looks as if his dream will be put on hold for another year. The Northern Irishman shot a 77 in the second round to drop back to +4, 10 strokes back of the lead.
Could he still come from behind to win? Sure, crazier things have happened in golf. It's reasonable to expect him to play well on the weekend and backdoor a top-10 finish in the end, but he'll need a historic weekend to catch the leaders and win the title. Another year, another failure at Augusta for McIlroy.
More must-reads: