Round 2 of the 2026 Masters goes down on Friday at Augusta National. Rory McIlroy begins the day tied for the lead, but World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is hoping to chase him down in the second round. GOLF’s writers and editors are providing live Masters updates on Friday’s second round all day long, from on-site at Augusta and beyond.
Masters Round 2: What you need to know
The opening day of the Masters saw an increasingly hard and fast Augusta National put the best golfers in the world to the test. McIlroy, the defending Masters champion, put together a five-under 67 to take a share of the lead with Sam Burns.
They have plenty of company near the top of the leaderboard, though, including Scheffler, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth, who tee off in the early wave on Friday. Major champions Jason Day and Patrick Reed start the second round tied for third.
Notable Round 2 tee times: Jordan Spieth (9:55 a.m. ET); Justin Rose (9:55 a.m. ET); Scottie Scheffler (10:19 a.m. ET); Jason Day (12:56 p.m. ET); Patrick Reed (1:08 p.m. ET); Bryson DeChambeau (1:20 p.m. ET); Rory McIlroy (1:44 p.m. ET);
Quick links: How to watch Masters Friday | Masters Round 2 tee times | Scores on Masters.com
Follow live updates from Round 2 of the 2026 Masters below.
Rory on a rampage
Beware the man with the monkey off his back. So we head into the weekend with Rory six, count ’em, SIX shots ahead of his nearest pursuers. He’s on pace to be just the champion to defend, after Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. Pretty good company. See you Saturday.
Buh-bye, Bryson
And just like that, one of the pre-tournament favorites, the pro game’s best-known YouTuber, will be sitting out the weekend. Bryson DeChambeau came to the 18th hole at plus 3, one shot inside the cutline, when it all came undone. A blocked tee ball in the trees. A punch out in a fairway bunker. And then two more shots to escape the sand, all leading to a disastrous triple-bogey, his second of the tournament. Moments later, a shell-shocked looking DeChambeau walked off 18 at plus 6 for the event. That’s not a scorecard he’ll want to have 3-D printed.
It’s official. Rory has now missed the fairway on all four par 5s today. Sometimes, it seems like he’s just messing with us. Letting off the gas just so he doesn’t pull too far away.
Patrick Reed in all black. Xander Schauffele in all black. Who would have thought that Gary Player would have more fashion influence at the Masters than Arnold Palmer. Okay. I’ll stop with the clothing commentary. Back to the golf.
If Bryson DeChambeau misses the weekend (he’s on the cutline at plus 4, as he plays the 14th), he can cast blame in a lot of directions, including his sloppy handling of the par 5s. He played them 1-over in his opening round and just bogeyed the 13th after smothering his approach into the bushes left of the green.
Killing him Schauffele
A day after it took a bite of his playing partner, Bryson DeChambeau, Amen Corner has had its way with Xander Schauffele. X-man was 4-under when he stuffed his approach on 11 to an ideal spot beneath the hole, only to suffer a brain-cramp three-putt. To make matters worse, Schauffele then left his tee ball on 12 in the front bunker and took two to get out. Shades of Bryson from the day before.
Rory vs. Rose/Rory vs. Reed
The past is always present at the Masters, and it’s lurking again as we push toward the end of Round 2. If the current scoreboard stands, Saturday’s final pairing will give us a reprise of last year’s sudden-death playoff: Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, who is in the clubhouse at minus 5. As things stand now, though, there’s another guy at minus 5, still on the course, and he’s got plenty of history with Rory, too. If Patrick Reed can push deeper into the red (he’s heading into Amen Corner as we type), he and McIlroy could end up going toe-to-toe again, as they did in that epic Ryder Cup singles match in 2016, and then again in the final round of the 2018 Masters. Reed edged McIlroy in both those encounters, and you know neither player has forgotten. Just another subplot in what is shaping up to be an entertaining weekend.
Tough day for World No. 1
Scottie Scheffler shot just his third career over-par round at Augusta National on Friday. The two-time Masters champion hit balls in the water on the par-5 13th and par-5 15th en route to a 2-over 74. He’s currently at even par and seven shots back of Rory McIlroy.
Rory in full flight at Augusta
The defending champion said he got as much out of his opening round as he could’ve, given that he hit just five of 14 fairways. McIlroy said he felt like he should’ve shot 2-under but missed in the right spots and was able to post 5-under on Thursday to take a share of the 18-hole lead.
McIlroy has looked even better to start Friday’s round. He opened with a par at No. 1 before reeling off three straight birdies at 2, 3 and 4 to take a three-shot lead. We wondered what Rory’s Masters freedom would look like, and we’ve got a pretty clear answer through the first 22 holes of his title defense.
Read more about Rory’s Masters freedom here: https://golf.com/news/rory-mcilroy-masters-freedom-mason-howell/
Tyrrell Hatton’s Friday charge
Tyrrell Hatton has the best round of the tournament so far after posting a 6-under 66 on Friday. Hatton hit all 18 greens in regulation and currently sits at 4-under, four shots back of leader Rory McIlroy. Hatton’s best previous finish at the Masters was a T9 in 2024.
Big Names In Danger of Missing Cut
With the afternoon wave now on the course, the projected cut currently sits at 4 over.
Jon Rahm, who shot a 78 on Thursday, is currently at 5 over with three holes to play. DataGolf currently has a 4-over, with a 67 percent chance of being the cut line, with there being a 12 percent chance of the line moving to 5 over. Rahm will likely need at least one birdie down the stretch to avoid an early trip home.
Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, J.J. Spaun and Patrick Cantlay are also on the wrong side of the line at the moment. Robert MacIntyre, who shot an 80 in Round 1 and flipped off the 15th hole, currently sits at 7 over. He is 1 under on his round but will need a few more coming in to play the weekend.
Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka making Friday noise
One year after his third Masters runner-up finish, Justin Rose is right back in contention. The 45-year-old is 2-under through 14 on the day and is just one shot back of Rory McIlroy. Brooks Koepka is playing alongside Rose and is 3-under through 14 as well and is two shots back.
The third member of the group, Jordan Spieth, is even on the day and five shots back of McIlroy. Spieth birdied the first but has gone into neutral since the opening hole due mostly to a cold putter.
WYNDHAM CLARK’S EARLY CHARGE
The round of the day — thus far — belongs to Wyndham Clark, who just made three birdies in a row to move to three under for the tournament and a share of third place.
Augusta National isn’t playing easy. Even the par-5 2nd is over par thus far. But there are some accessible hole locations for precise shots. Sungjae Im is one under through eight; he’s the only other guy who’s played more than two holes and is in red figures for the day.
Temporarily on the cut line: Fred Couples, who just made birdie at No. 2.
Here’s what he said after his first round took a turn for the worse:
Thought I was making the dumbest mistake of my life today when I requested an interview with Fred Couples after finishing his opening round at the Masters quad-double-double-par.
To my surprise, Fred said yes, talked through every shot, and admitted he still had fun. Amazing pic.twitter.com/ZZWm6FURTv
— James Colgan (@jamescolgan26) April 10, 2026
MASTERS FRIDAY CONDITIONS
Thursday was plenty tough at Augusta National, with a scoring average of 74.65. Could Friday be tougher? It’s still probably too early to say. The weather is perfect, it’s 60 degrees, sunny and calm. But Augusta National is firm and fast and a few greens in particular — Michael Kim cited Nos. 3 and 15 — drove guys nuts on Thursday.
I was particularly struck by the reaction of Harry Hall, who shot 40 on the back nine and said he’ll switch putters, add a new driver and reassess the way he spins his irons before he plays the second round. The power of Augusta National!
Anyway, DataGolf is projecting the cut line to fall somewhere between 4 and 6 over par. That should make for some fascinating names right around the line on a challenging golf course this afternoon.
UPDATED MASTERS ODDS
It’s interesting to see where how the odds have shifted heading to Friday. Here are the favorites:
Rory McIlroy +300 (was +1100 pre-tournament)
Scottie Scheffler +350 (was +500)
Xander Schauffele +1000 (was +1600)
Sam Burns +1100 (was +10000)
Justin Rose +1600 (was +3000)
Patrick Reed +1800 (was +3000)
Tommy Fleetwood +2000 (was +2500)
Other than Burns, most of those guys were expected to be in the mix. What’s more surprising are the pre-tournament favorites who fell well off the pace on Thursday — notably Bryson DeChambeau (76), Jon Rahm (78) and Robert MacIntyre (80), while Cameron Young (73), Ludvig Aberg (74) and Matt Fitzpatrick (74) have plenty of work to do.
Happy Friday, gang! Dylan Dethier here with you for the next couple hours. A few groups are out on course, including one golfer under par (Brian Campbell, 1 under) and a couple more at even (Wyndham Clark, Sam Stevens).
The “marquee” pairings are in a slightly grayer zone here than elsewhere. At 8:38, for instance, Adam Scott-Daniel Berger-Brian Harman is a loaded group.
But the biggest names start teeing off at 9:43 a.m. with Jon Rahm, Chris Gotterup and Ludvig Aberg, with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at 10:19.
Call me naive but I’ll be locked into the adventures of 66-year-old Fred Couples, who was two under through 14 on Thursday before disaster struck at the par-5 15th. He’s six over beginning his second round — Let’s see a second-round 70 and a made cut, please.
I walked all 18 at Augusta National. These little details jumped out
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A couple hours after the 2026 Masters began Thursday morning, I set out to walk all 18 holes with three goals in mind: Watch some golf, offset the caloric intake of Augusta National’s press center (which Willy Wonka would deem a bit decadent) and take some time to admire the little things.
Our photographer Darren Riehl did the hard work. I mostly just pointed at stuff. Here begins our tour.
Editor’s note: This may be a strange, wandering story but it has good pictures, so feel free to skip the words and skim those.
No. 1
The entire Masters Tournament relies on a certain assumption of orderliness from its patrons. Even its insistence on calling them “patrons” helps set the tone. It’s easy to roll your eyes at some of that stuff, but here’s the result: When players walk from the clubhouse toward the 1st tee, they very often just walk through the sea of people gathered there. There are a few officials with ropes who can establish temporary order, if need be. Often need don’t be.
Fred Couples made a 9 at the Masters. Then he did something surprising
AUGUSTA, Ga. — If you can bear it, take a few seconds to imagine how it felt to be Fred Couples on Masters Thursday afternoon.
Your day starts with a warmup. But really it begins before that, when the first patron sees you on site at Augusta National, and you can feel the first thought in their head. You’re 66 years old, playing at Augusta National for the forty-first time, and the rumors surrounding your competitive retirement from golf’s first major have gotten so loud you can’t even pretend to ignore them.
Rory McIlroy showed us what his Masters freedom looks like in more ways than 1
Rory McIlroy said he didn’t feel any different. Fifty-two weeks after he crumpled to the ground in ecstasy after achieving his greatest dream, he arrived at the first tee at Augusta National, this time as a Masters champion, and still felt the same rush of emotions he had felt on that tee box for the last 18 years.
“I was nervous, I was anxious just like I always am on that first tee,” McIlroy said after his opening round on Thursday. “I’m thankful that I felt the same as I always have. I think it would be worrisome if I didn’t feel that way because it definitely still means something to me.”
