Jim Souhan live at the Masters: High winds, high scores shuffle Round 2 leaderboard

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Good afternoon from Augusta National.

Just finished walking with Fargo's Tom Hoge, who shot a 74 and stands at 3-over par. He birdied the always-difficult first hole, then birdied the par-5 second after chipping close from the patron seating area to the right of the green.

Being at 3-over par might not sound encouraging, but Hoge played his last handful of holes as the wind was dramatically picking up. "I'll probably move up," he said, meaning scores will probably worsen as the day moves on.

I'll have a story about Hoge and his many Minnesota-area connections who are in Augusta later at startribune.com and in the Saturday paper.

It was an unpredictable day because of the weather, and few golfers were going low. Former Masters champ Charl Schwartzel shot a 69 to move into a tie for first at 3-under midway through the afternoon. Another former Masters champ who has been similarly under-the-radar of late, Danny Willett, was also at 3-under, along with first-round leader Sungjae Im.

Great stat from Justin Ray on Twitter about Gary Woodland, who went 2-6 at the 10th and 11th holes:

The 11th hole is playing long and tough right now. The club lengthened the hole by about 20 yards, and placed three trees along the right of the fairway, and now one of the most difficult holes on the course requires a long-iron or wood into the green for most players.

Good guy alert: Two of the most popular players on tour (at least with fellow players and media) are moving up the leaderboard. Harold Varner III is one off the lead after shooting a second straight 71, and Tony Finau has moved into a tie for fourth with Varner and a host of others.

Former Gopher Erik van Rooyen, of South Africa, made triple-bogey on No. 17 to finish with a 79 and at 7-over overall. This is his second Masters. He withdrew because of a back injury in 2020.

The Masters did Tiger Woods a favor by giving him an early tee time on Thursday and a late tee time on Friday so his surgically-repaired leg could rest between rounds, but they didn't do him any favors in terms of wind. This will be a highly difficult afternoon for everyone.

Good morning from Augusta National.

On Thursday, the field was back-weighted with many of the best players going off in the last four round. Today, the morning rounds may be more interesting, although Tiger Woods gets to rest this morning and tee off at 12:41 p.m. Central.

Former Gopher Erik van Rooyen is in the second group, at 7:11 a.m. Central; Fargo's Tom Hoge's tee time is 8:17 a.m. Central.

Leader Sungjae Im tees off at 8:39 a.m. Central.

After three days of rain, which ended mid-morning on Thursday, the weather is expected to be cool and windy the next two days, with a projected high of 67 degrees today and 58 degrees tomorrow. Today is expected to be particularly windy.

For Friday's paper I wrote about the experiences of Woods, van Rooyen and Hoge, and Im trying to become the second Asian to win The Masters after Hideki Matsuyama became the first last year.

I'm in two golf pools with my friends from Atlanta. In the one in which I could pick anyone I wanted, I went with Cameron Smith, who is second at 4-under In the one determined by draft order, I had a choice between Smith, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, among others, and I chose Koepka, who imploded on the back nine, shooting 41 to finish 3-over.

Smith played the most unusual round of the day, double-bogeying the first and 18th holes and shooting 8-under between.

Perhaps the most disappointing performance was turned in by Justin Thomas, who shot a 4-over 76. He practiced with Tiger Woods and Fred Couples all week, trying to gather course knowledge, and admitted that he has disappointed himself with his finishes in The Masters and most majors, and he played himself out of contention on the first day

Joaquin Niemann is tied for third at 3-under, and he shot that score while playing in the same group as Tiger Woods, who drew a massive following on Thursday.

On the 8th hole, Woods, playing on a surgically-repaired right leg, looked gimpy when he hit a shot from the fairway and fell back to his right. But on the 14th hole, he hit one of his patented swing-fast-and-recoil shots from the pine straw on the left side of the fairway, hitting the ball just over the green. He made bogey, but the shot was a reminder that Woods is simply willing and able to play shots that few others can pull off.

Stat of the day: Most rounds in the 60s at The Masters over the last three years: Cameron Smith, with 7.

Last year, he tied for 10th.

I'm not sure I've ever seen crowds this large at Augusta National. The gift shop and shipping center often had lines stretching down the block, and there were lines for bathrooms and concession stands.

The sun is rising over the practice grounds right now, and the course is typically beautiful. The players heading out this morning should have an advantage – a relatively soft course with lower winds. Higher winds could prove problematic and dry out the course this afternoon.