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Clark is the only player out this morning under par for his round so far. A small sample size, but one that nevertheless suggests low scores will come at a premium today. To illustrate: Tom McKibbin, whose Masters debut isn\u2019t going to plan. The 23-year-old from Belfast shot 75 yesterday, and he\u2019s opened this morning with three bogeys and a double in his first five holes. He\u2019s clattered down the standings to +8, and isn\u2019t the only player from the LIV tour to be struggling this week: none of the tour\u2019s ten representatives broke par yesterday, with their big guns Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm shooting 76 and 78 respectively, two of the pre-Tournament favourites as good as out of the running already.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s three birdies in a row for 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark! On a roll, he cracks his tee shot at the long par-three 4th pin high, to eight feet, and walks in the putt. The late-blooming 32-year-old from Denver tied for fourth at last year\u2019s Open, so he\u2019s trending in the majors, albeit with a nine-month hiatus, but he\u2019s not got a good record at Augusta National: one missed cut and a tie for 46th. Looks like he\u2019s in the mood to right that particular wrong.<\/p>\n -5: Burns, McIlroy Share<\/a><\/p>\n It promises to be a glorious day at Augusta National. Sunny and dry, with temperatures set to reach 80 degrees by the afternoon. Not too much in the way of wind. It\u2019ll be more of the same during the weekend, so expect conditions to get tougher and tougher as the course gets harder and faster. Given that yesterday\u2019s scoring average was 74.65, already up nearly two strokes from last year\u2019s average of 72.81, we could be in for plenty of high jinks on Sunday afternoon. Cannot wait.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The first adjustment towards the top of today\u2019s Leader Board comes courtesy of the 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark. He birdies 2, wedging over the bunker guarding the right of the green to a couple of feet and tidying up. He follows that up by finding the dancefloor of the elevated green at 3 in regulation, then steering in the right-to-left 12-footer that remains. A birdie-birdie blast, and Clark moves confidently into red figures.<\/p>\n -5: Burns, McIlroy Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 also, before we head out onto the course, it\u2019s probably best if we grab ourselves a snack. How about one of these new dark-milk chocolate bars with caramel and rice crispies? CANDY BAR: the only Soviet-branded candy with a hazelnut crunch! Horseshoe theory enthusiasts will be delighted to see the late-stage capitalism of the USA swinging all the way around towards a socialist idyll. Just $2.25. Sounds delicious, get me two.<\/p>\n Candy Bar, as reported earlier this week in the Augusta Chronicle Photograph: Andy BullShare<\/a><\/p>\n While we wait for the meaningful action to begin, let\u2019s whack on a tune. Now then, \u201cCBS\u201d + \u201cmusic\u201d = Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen. It also equals this. All together now (for it has lyrics) \u2026<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Well it\u2019s springtime in the valley on Magnolia Lane Augusta, your dogwoods and pines It\u2019s Watson, Byron Nelson, Demaret, Player and Snead Augusta, your dogwoods and pines Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are we all going to talk about next year?\u201d Yes, well, Rory\u2019s keeping his riff alive, isn\u2019t he? It\u2019s a good while today until the defending champ turns up for work, mind you, so in the meantime, here\u2019s how the top of the leaderboard looked after 18 holes<\/a> \u2026<\/p>\n -5: Burns, McIlroy \u2026 and here\u2019s the Friday running order. Some pre-Tournament favourites in Ludvig \u00c5berg (+2), Bryson DeChambeau (+4) and Jon Rahm (+6) need to get their gamefaces on and quick.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST)
-3: Clark (4), Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele<\/p>\n
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (3), Rose, Scheffler, Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Rai, Bridgeman, Woodland, Li, Taylor, Fleetwood<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the Augusta National and the master of the game
Who\u2019ll wear that green coat on Sunday afternoon?
Who\u2019ll walk the 18th fairway singing this tune?<\/p>\n
They play on my mind like a song
Augusta, it\u2019s you that I love
And it\u2019s you that I\u2019ll miss when I\u2019m gone.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Amen Corner and it\u2019s Hogan\u2019s perfect swing
It\u2019s Sarazen\u2019s double eagle at the 15 in \u201835
And the spirit of Clifford Roberts that keeps it alive<\/p>\n
They play on my mind like a song
Augusta, it\u2019s you that I love
And it\u2019s you that I miss when I\u2019m gone
It\u2019s the legions of Arnie\u2019s Army and the Golden Bear\u2019s throngs
And the wooden-shafted legend of Bobby Jones.<\/p>\n
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Lowry, Schauffele, Rose, Scheffler
-1: Li, Taylor, Fleetwood, Campbell, Rai, Bridgeman, Woodland<\/p>\n
1240 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sam Stevens
1250 Brian Campbell, Tom McKibbin (NIrl), Andrew Novak
1302 Wyndham Clark, (a) Mateo Pulcini (Arg), Mike Weir (Can)
1314 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Zach Johnson, Michael Kim
1326 (a) Ethan Fang, Davis Riley, Danny Willett (Eng)
1338 Daniel Berger, Brian Harman, Adam Scott (Aus)
1350 Fred Couples, (a) Pongsapak Laopakdee (Tha), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)
1402 Jacob Bridgeman, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng)
1419 Michael Brennan, Corey Conners (Can), Harry Hall (Eng)
1431 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Maverick McNealy, JJ Spaun
1443 Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Chris Gotterup, Jon Rahm (Spa)
1455 Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose (Eng), Jordan Spieth
1507 Ben Griffin, Sepp Straka (Aut), Justin Thomas
1519 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Scottie Scheffler, Gary Woodland
1531 Harris English, Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Marco Penge (Eng)
1551 Johnny Keefer, Haotong Li (Chn)
1603 Max Homa, Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
1615 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa)
1627 Angel Cabrera (Arg), (a) Jackson Herrington, Sami Valimaki (Fin)
1639 Ryan Fox (Nzl), Max Greyserman, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
1651 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Matt McCarty, Vijay Singh (Fij)
1703 Casey Jarvis (Rsa), Kurt Kitayama, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor)
1715 Nicolas Echavarria (Col), (a) Brandon Holtz, Bubba Watson
1732 Sam Burns, Jake Knapp, Cameron Smith (Aus)
1744 Keegan Bradley, Ryan Gerard, Nick Taylor (Can)
1756 Jason Day (Aus), Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry (Irl)
1808 Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Patrick Reed
1820 Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele
1832 Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa
1844 (a) Mason Howell, Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Cameron Young
1856 Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Alexander Noren (Swe)<\/p>\n