No one expected Justin Rose to follow his spectacular opening round of 7-under-par 65 in the Masters Tournament with a matching or lower second round score Friday.
That would have been news, since no one has ever done it after opening with 65 or lower in tournament history.
Rose followed that Masters tradition by turning in an even-par 72 during Friday’s second round, playing his final five holes in 3-under-par fashion.
In the 85 Masters tournaments, Rose and 16 other players have shot 65 or better to lead the first round.
Only five of them responded with second rounds in the 60s, with the best follow-up round being the 66 that Jordan Spieth shot after opening with 64 in 2015. Spieth’s 14-under 130 is the tournament record for the first 36 holes.
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The other first-round leaders who shot 65 or lower and followed with second rounds in the 60s were Raymond Floyd (65-66 in 1976), Greg Norman (63-69 in 1996), Chris DiMarco (65-69 in 2001) and Rory McIlroy (65-69 in 2011).
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Of those five, only Spieth and Floyd went on to win the Masters that year. They are among the five wire-to-wire winners in Masters history (the player must be a solo leader of each round). That’s why Dustin Johnson, who shared the first- and second-round leads in the 2020 Masters, is not considered a wire-to-wire winner by Augusta National Golf Club.
Going in the other direction among those first-round leaders shooting 65 or lower in Masters history were Mike Donald (64-82 in 1990), Lanny Wadkins (65-75 in 1992), Charley Hoffman (65-75 in 2017), Jeff Sluman (65-74 in 1992), Lloyd Mangrum (64-75 in 1940), Paul Casey (65-74 in 2020), Dylan Frittelli (65-73 in 2020), Alvaro Quiros (65-73 in 2011), Gary Player (65-73 in 1965) and Chad Campbell (65-70 in 2009).
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Rose did set a Masters record for any round on Thursday. No one else in Masters history had played the final 11 holes in 36 shots. The record had been 37 shots by Mark Calcavecchia 1992 and Norman in 1996.
“Like I even said to him inside, he didn’t even do anything outrageous,” Shane Lowry, one of Rose’s playing partners, said of Thursday’s round. “He didn’t even hole many long putts or chip in. It just kind of was very solid. But it was a joy to watch that round of golf.”
