Justin Rose pins his hopes of winning The Masters on the RAIN following an excellent start at Augusta going four-under par heading into Day Three – while Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood battle bravely
- Justin Rose carded an one-under par 71 during his second round at The Masters
- He sits T10 at four-under par in the leaderboard and is hoping the rain can help
- England’s other hopes Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood sit lower
England has produced just one Masters winner in the past 25 years. Do not hold your breath for another one.
Only Justin Rose has any hope of chasing down the leaders here and — at four under and eight shots behind early pacesetter Brooks Koepka — the chances are slim but not non-existent.
Storms and rain are due to batter Augusta today, which may well play into the hands of the Europeans. But that may be seen as clutching at straws. Such is the cavernous gap to those at the top of the leaderboard one feels that the damage has already been inflicted.
Rose, at least, remains in the fight. On Thursday he carded a creditable three-under-par 69 and was back in elegant form today. The 42-year-old was at five under heading to the last, but a bogey there took some of the shine off.
As history has shown, this is not a course to chase others down but Rose will have one eye on the heavens today — and clearly feels that help may well be on its way.
Justin Rose is hoping that the rain at Augusta National can help him win The Masters
Rose finished up his second round at Augusta T10 and heads into day three four-under par
England have produced just one Masters champion in the last 25 years and Rose could be their best hope this year
‘I think I’m more satisfied given the fact that there’s some bad weather coming,’ he said.
‘If the golf course is going to play like it has for the first couple of days, and the leaders are going to continue making birdies, it’s tough to kind of keep up with the pace.
‘You need to make six or seven more than they’re making. With bad weather, sometimes two or three birdies can go a long way, and there’s going to be big numbers out there over the weekend.’
Elsewhere, there was little to write home about. Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick at least battled bravely.
The US Open champion revealed before the Masters began that he had been playing through pain after suffering a neck injury that had thrown his swing out of synch and ruined his preparations.
While he remained optimistic, he was also realistic and joked that making the cut would be success.
He appeared to have done that last night. Watched by a large contingent of family and friends he rebounded from going one over after a disappointing bogey at the par-three sixth with two birdies on the more favourable back nine.
But Fitzpatrick also came a cropper at the 18th, where a bogey left him at two under and 10 shots off the top.
The last Englishman to ease himself into the green jacket, Danny Willett, was first back into the clubhouse after shooting a repeat of Thursday’s 75 to leave him six over. A double bogey on the 18th compounded the misery.
US Open Matt Fitzpatrick battled his way around to finish day two going two-under par
Tyrrell Hatton finished up on evens after Friday and is currently T38 in the standings
Tommy Fleetwood finished the second day one-under after carding four birdies in his round
Wycombe’s Tyrrell Hatton, who had been in good form, also bogeyed the fearsome last to leave him even par for the day and one under — facing a nervous wait to see if he makes the cut.
The 31-year-old, never one to keep his frustration to himself, will be unhappy with his display.
Elsewhere, Southport’s Tommy Fleetwood stood at one under after 17 holes and was all but out of contention.
The wait is likely to continue.