The Masters was anything but that Friday. The wind blowing through the pines of Georgia gave Tiger Woods and so many others what they could handle, a relentless fight from t-shirt to green. And then Scheffler made it feel even harder. The 5-under 67 matched the day’s low score and gave him a five-point lead, tying a Masters record after 36 holes. The last four players who led by five shots at the weekend continued to win. The only exception was Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper in 1936. This brought more than a shoulder lift from the No. 1 player in the world. “I think I’m still playing against the golf course out there,” Scheffler said. “And there are a lot of other kids in this area. So I can not give them much importance. “ Scheffler beats them all, along with an increasingly difficult Augusta National. “You live on the edge of a knife every hole, honestly,” said Adam Scott, who played on Scheffler’s team. “And I was playing with a guy who made it seem easy. But that’s how he plays right now.” In his debut as the new No. 1 player in the world, Scheffler appeared in his role. He was left without bogs in the last 15 holes, he played smartly from the water and he trusted every shot he faced, even though the wind was both strong and unstable. Scheffler, the 25-year-old Texas Longhorn, has won three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour and does not appear to be flooding the Augusta National stage. “I put myself in the position where I am able to win this golf tournament. “I could not ask for anything more after 36 holes,” Scheffler said. “My game seems to be in a good spot. “I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and not think too much about things.” He was 8 under 136, five shots away from defending champion Hideki Matsuyama (69), former champion Charl Schwartzel (69), former British Open champion Shane Lowry (68) and 18-hole leader Sungjae Im (74). . Woods was nine shots back, a difficult task even on two good legs. Despite four bogs after five holes, Woods made a 74 and reached the weekend in his first 72-hole event since the November 2020 Masters. “Hi, I made the cut. “I had the opportunity to go at the weekend,” Woods said. “I think it will be the golf course that Augusta National wants. It will be faster, drier, faster. It will be a big test. “ Former Masters champion Dustin Johnson, 73, led a 2-year-old group under 142, while the other bunch included two-time champion Colin Moricaua and former PGA champion Justin Thomas, whose 67 were the same as Scheffler for the best of the day. Two hours after the start of a glorious and calm spring day in Augusta, the wind blew and the players held on for a lifetime. Scheffler could see the sand coming out of the shelters. They tore flags. The scores were high. “I felt like I did 10 laps with Canelo,” Sergio Garcia said of champion Canelo Alvarez. This happened after a difficult 74. Spieth hit two at Rae’s Creek and took the triple bogey in par-3 12th. At least that happened on Friday, although he lost the cut when he made a double boom at 18. Scott tried to stay in the mix until he had a wedge spin back in the water at par-5 15th, hit the next one over the green and got a triple bamboo. Scheffler did not have such problems, even if he did not feel that way. “I definitely feel like I was in a race today,” he said. “I guess the only thing I would say to that is maybe I just had a little better performance.” Scheffler repelled his mistakes early on and started taking control with two birds just before making the turn. After a hard draw from the right of the 11th green, he added two little birds from 12 feet to par-3 12th and a hard court from well right to par-5 13th. By then, the wind was blowing late in the afternoon and Scheffler was moving away with two other birds that made it a clear and difficult target for the weekend. And to think only two months ago he still did not have a victory in the PGA Tour. Woods made it through another hike along the corrugated ground of Augusta National, with his limp more noticeable than his right foot, which was held in place by rods and screws from his car accident 14 months ago. “I do not feel as well as I would like to feel,” Woods said with a smile. “Okay. Like I said, I have the opportunity to go on the weekend. Hopefully I will have one of those moments with the light bulb and turn it on at the weekend and do it.” His athlete did not help at all. All of Woods’ main blows in the opening round did not fall on Friday as he stacked four bogs in his first five holes, raising questions about whether his unlikely return to the Masters would last just two days. And now he has two more. Moving away from successive bogs at the start of the Amen Corner, it led to more trouble on par-5 13th in addition to failing enough to stay on the right bank of the Rae’s Creek tributary, creating a pitch-and-putt for a bird. “It was difficult for everyone,” Woods said, and an ironic smile soon followed. “Obviously, there are some people who are not fighting out there.” One of them would be Scheffler, who has everyone’s attention. Another was Thomas, with whom Woods played his training sessions last week and the days before the Masters. He opened with a 76 and spent the rest of the day murmuring on a missed opportunity. He closed his 67 with three straight birds along the nine back. “I could very easily go home right now, and not only am I not, but I’m in a very good place to go this weekend,” Thomas said. He was seven points behind, however, although he was not at all surprised that Scheffler was able to post such good laps to create a big lead. “If I played properly yesterday, I should be there with him,” Thomas said. “I love this place because you can make so many birds – even in such conditions, if you plan your way and know how to move it, you can make a lot of birds. It exposes you when it blows so much if you do not have control of your ball. “Clearly he is in control of everything right now based on the last two months, so I’m not too surprised,” he added. “But yes, I would appreciate it if it stopped going too far.”
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