2025 Masters Second Round Recap, Leaderboard, and Notes

The Fried Egg Golf staff recaps a busy second day of play at the 2025 Masters, where the field of 95 players has been cut down to 53.

Friday Fun at the Masters

By Garrett Morrison

We’ve got ourselves a tournament. Following a Thursday 65 with a workmanlike 71 on Friday at the Masters, Justin Rose held onto the lead but let a bunch of thoroughbreds back into the race. Corey Conners, Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, and Matt McCarty are all within three strokes. The stars of the day, however, were Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.

After spoiling a promising first round with double bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17, McIlroy dragged himself back into contention on Friday with a bogey-free 66. For more on this rousing performance, check out Brendan Porath’s section below. Quickly, though, a bit of historical trivia, courtesy of Fried Egg Golf’s Joseph LaMagna: of all players with no Masters titles, McIlroy is tied for the fourth most top 10s (seven). Ahead of him are Gene Littler (eight), Greg Norman (nine), Lloyd Mangrum (12), and Tom Kite (12). Kite also had nine top fives, including a solo runner-up to an invincible Tiger Woods in 1997. Oof.

All right, on to Bryson DeChambeau.

Known for his aggressive game plans at majors, the Big Golfer has adopted a notably cautious strategy at Augusta National in recent years. Today, he kept his driver in the bag on seven of the course’s 14 non-par 3s. He laid up from the pine straw on the par-5 13th hole. He even hit iron off the third tee, leaving himself a nearly full wedge to a left pin on the short par 4 — a tactic perennially poo-pooed by spreadsheet-wielding course-management gurus. At his post-round press conference, DeChambeau explained why he took this approach: “Hitting driver up there, I [would] have a 70-yard shot into the wind, which is fine, [but] I wouldn’t have been able to get the right spin on it to get it close. It would have bounced by the flag and gone 15, 20 feet by. So I felt like laying up [gave] me a better chance to land it softer and spin it next to the hole, which I did.” He went on to acknowledge that his thoughts on the third hole have changed over time. “I learned from past experience,” he said, “hitting it up there and having this tight 75-yard shot that I can’t really control. I’d rather have a little 10:30 9-iron in for me.” Avert your eyes, Data Boyz!

By no means did DeChambeau play flawlessly today: he hit poor tee shots on three of the four par 3s, spun a wedge off the front of the ninth green, three-putted No. 16, and made a mess of the 10th hole (before getting up and down from behind the green in remarkable fashion). But he shot 68 without hitting a ton of outrageously good shots. That’s a sign of smart strategy.

It’s easy to forget that, until last year, DeChambeau had never placed better than T-29 as a professional at the Masters. He seemed bewildered by the course. Now he looks like a threat to win multiple green jackets — an impressive evolution.

One final note from me on Friday’s action: 65-year-old Fred Couples and 67-year-old Bernhard Langer missed the cut by one stroke, but both showed why they’re among the greatest Augusta National specialists ever. As Roberto Castro said on X, shooting 147 over 36 holes at a firm, breezy Augusta National is no mean feat. For a pair of guys who reached the minimum age for the senior tour in the aughts, it’s amazing. Langer has announced that this year’s Masters will be his last, and he received a warm ovation as he walked off the 18th green. No doubt Couples’s swan song won’t be too far in the future. I’ve loved watching both men tack their way around this golf course for the past couple of decades, consistently body-bagging younger, stronger players. It has become a treasured spring tradition, and I’ll miss it.

Dictating the Narrative

By Brendan Porath

Rory McIlroy has not made a bogey through two rounds at Augusta National and went into the weekend giddily discussing how he “rode his luck” late on Friday to the midpoint of the Masters. With that framing, the assumption would follow that the best player of his generation would be out in front, perhaps by multiple shots. There is only the small issue of two late double bogeys — one from a new green has been labeled as far firmer than anything else this week — that wiped out a 4-under round on Thursday and sent him to bed frustrated with the blown tires at those two spots.

Fortunately for McIlroy, and the wave of supporters on the grounds at Augusta, they were just popped tires and not a totaled rig. McIlroy reiterated that he was not going to let those two doubles “dictate the narrative” of another Masters chasing the career slam. And we love imposing narratives on McIlroy’s career at large and at the Masters. The media will have two more days to pore over those.

He returned on Friday, appearing to get a favorable tee time draw with a softer course early in the morning and avoiding a forecasted stiffening of winds late. He played quite well on the first nine, putting several approach shots to the right spots, such as at Nos. 5, 7, 8, and 9. It was softer — his ball rolled out maybe a yard at the fifth — but he was playing properly from station to station, avoiding the big double, but missing the birdie chances to get minimal real leaderboard movement out of it. That opening nine was nearly as good to watch as the birdie fireworks on the back, but the emotional attachment to the numbers on the card and a good break here or there are what set the narrative. You’re going to hear all about the shots into Nos. 13 and 15, the nice window he found at the 14th, and the do-or-die clear at No. 15, first.

The crowd started to get angsty — and make no mistake, this is an extremely pro-Rory crowd — more so than a U.S. Open and maybe more than any other non-Portush major going. It’s still startling to see patrons get up and move on to the next hole when Rory putts out with star players like Ludvig Aberg and Bryson DeChambeau, at the time several shots better than Rory on the leaderboard and in real contention, still to play right in front of their eyes. Where are you going?!

They would get some ROI on their boosterism in the second nine, where those approaches became even more precise at Nos. 10 and 11. The luck riding would come next with a nice bounce back off the bushes at No. 12 and a 4-iron that juuuusst cleared the creek at the 13th for an eventual eagle that may dictate a new narrative. It was a remarkably Manichean moment of tension with the ball in the air, and he cashed in on the luck with the putt.

After the 66 put him firmly in the top five and in contention, Rory said he was “excited for the opportunity” ahead of him the next two days and given the names around him on this leaderboard, we all should be. It should be hell of a weekend for golf and narratives at the Masters.

No Weekend For You

By Will Knights

As is tradition, a good chunk of notable names will not be around this weekend. Some should be ashamed to be on this list, while others should be proud of their performance. Here is one sentence on each of them. Gone but not forgotten.

Brooks Koepka (74-75) – Following the lead of Jose Luis Ballester, Koepka soiled himself on the final hole on Friday, making a quadruple bogey to miss the cut and make it seven straight majors in which he has not been a factor.

Bernhard Langer (74-73) – In what he says is his last Masters appearance, the 71-year-old two-time Masters champion put up a valiant effort but ultimately came up one shot short.

Dustin Johnson (74-73) – Someone you no longer have to consider as a serious contender in major championships.

Fred Couples (71-77) – In search of his 32nd made cut at the Masters, Boom Boom just ran out of gas and missed the weekend by two shots.

Sergio Garcia (72-76) – If he wants to actually be considered for the Ryder Cup like many have been advocating for this year, he can’t lay an egg at major championships.

Phil Mickelson (75-74) – Unfortunately, a missed cut means he’ll be tweeting all weekend.

Cameron Smith (71-78) – It’s never good when your tournament is only remembered because of a gimmicky practice round outfit.

Adam Scott (77-72) – After 15 made cuts in a row, the 2013 Masters winner will have the weekend off for the first time since 2009.

Sepp Straka (78-71) – Similar to Koepka, the trending pick had fought back inside the cutline on Friday before snipping his tee shot left on the 18th, making triple bogey to be sent packing.

Cameron Young (72-79) – Not a serious major championship golfer right now, especially when you miss multiple putts inside two feet due to carelessness.

Will Zalatoris (74-78) – Began his Masters career in style with three straight top-10 finishes, but this will be a week to forget.

Nick Dunlap (90-71) – One of the more impressive bouncebacks you’ll see at Augusta National, even if he did finish six shots worse than the next worst player.

Photo of the Day

By Cameron Hurdus

After Rory McIlroy’s incredible eagle on No. 13, it looked like another possible derailment was on hand after his tee shot on No. 14. Instead, he threaded a phenomenal iron through a gap in the trees. It kept the round going and feels like one of those shots that could be important if he goes on to win.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.