It was an emotional moment for Gary Player as he made his way to the 18th green in his final major at the Masters on Friday.
Apr. 10, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM Staff
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Who gets an A and who doesn't? Now that the second round is over at Augusta National, here are our grades in various categories:
• THE MASTERS: Click here for complete coverage of the 2009 Masters
| 2009 Masters: Second-round grades |
| Farewells and Goodbyes |
Grade: A |
| Gary Player, playing in his record 52nd and last Masters, got standing ovations on every hole, then finished his round with his South African compatriots on the PGA TOUR waiting for him. Fuzzy Zoeller also played in his last Masters after 31 starts. The tears and the gratitude flowed for both players and patrons. |
| Anthony Kim |
Grade: A |
| A record-setting 11 birdies should get an A-plus, right? Alas, Kim weaved in a couple of bogeys and a double bogeys on his way to the day's best round, a 7-under 65. Still, it was spectacular. Now the question becomes: What are you gonna do for an encore, AK? |
| The Fortysomethings |
Grade: A |
| Kenny Perry, age 48, put himself in position to become the older major winner with a bogey-free 67. Todd Hamilton, age 43, shot 70 and is alone at fourth. Steve Stricker, age 42, shot 69 and is T11. Stephen Ames, who turns 45 later this month, shot 68 and is also T11, as is Vijay Singh, the king of the Fortysomethings. Singh, 46, posted a 70. |
| 2008 U.S. Ryder Cuppers |
Grade: A |
| Of the 12 players in the final six groups Saturday, half of them were teammates on the victorious U.S. team at Valhalla last year. That includes the final group of tournament leader Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry, who starts one stroke back. The U.S.-heavy leaderboard makes up for fact that more Internationals (28) than Americans (22) made the cut. |
| Sandy Lyle's putting |
Grade: A |
| The 1988 Masters champ, now a member of the Champions Tour, showed he can still perform magic on Augusta's greens. He needed just 22 putts in shooting a 2-under 70 that puts him tied for 19th. Why didn't he score better? He hit just six of 18 greens in regulation. |
| The Top 10ers |
Grade: A-minus |
| Phil Mickelson (second in Official World Golf Rankings), Sergio Garcia (3), Geoff Ogilvy (4), Henrik Stenson (8) and Camilo Villegas (10) all turned in sub-par rounds. Garcia had the low round of those five, shooting a 5-under 67 (his first sub-par round at Augusta National since last round of 2004), while Mickelson came in with a 68. The big names lurk. |
| Greg Norman |
Grade: B-minus |
| The Shark, who opened with a 70 on Thursday, was still within the cut as late as the 13th hole Friday. But a bogey at the 14th and another at the 17th sent him to 3 over and out of the tournament. He said he played better this week than last year at Royal Birkdale. And it was good to see him back at Augusta National. |
| Padraig Harrington |
Grade: C |
| Tough, tough day for Paddy, who's looking for his third straight major win. A couple of horseshoes, including his potential birdie putt on 18. Then the unfortunate penalty at 15 when the wind moved his ball backwards while he addressed his 4-foot birdie putt. But he hung tough. He can't afford any more bad luck, though. |
| Tiger Woods |
Grade: C |
| Needed three less putts than Thursday, but shot two strokes higher, as he hit just 11 of 18 greens in regulation. Woods stands T19; in his four previous Masters wins, he has never been lower than T4 after 36 holes. |
| Teenagers |
Grade: D |
| Tough day if you were under 20 and playing at Augusta National on Friday. Danny Lee shot 81. Ryo Ishikawa shot 77. And Rory McIlroy, after getting to 4 under and threatening to become THE story here, blew up in the final three holes, with a double bogey at the 16th and a triple-bogey at the 18th. Then he threatened to be THE story in a different way with talk about a possible disqualification because of a rules infringement. In the end, he made the cut on the number and will be in the field this weekend. |
| Zach Johnson |
Grade: D-minus |
| Of the eight players who posted rounds of 80 or over in the first two days, the name you'd least expect to see on this list is the 2006 Masters champ. His 80 on Friday -- after a 70 the day before -- sent him home early. Johnson hit every fairway in the second round, but needed 35 putts. Only Gary Player needed more. |
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