Xander Schauffele will tee off Saturday at the 88th Masters Tournament six strokes behind the leader. That may sound like a big deal, but considering how he’s played the course thus far, he’s definitely living it up.
He maintained his position with a great second round on Friday. Schauffele shot an even-par 72 for the second consecutive day.
“I played pretty solid. I made some important putts,” Schauffele said after his round.
It certainly was. Of the 89 participants in the Masters, only eight finished under par, and Ludwig Aberg was the only one to break 70 with a 3-under 69.
On the other hand, in the 1980s, when Augusta National was at its peak, many star players competed.
Photo by Andrew Reddington/Getty Images
Wind gusts exceeding 75 mph wreaked havoc on the course.
“It was probably the toughest day. Not that I have a lot of experience here, but it will definitely go down as probably the toughest day I’ve ever played at Augusta.”
Despite the conditions, the 30-year-old didn’t leave a bad taste in his mouth, unlike reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, who had doubts about continuing to play at Augusta National Golf Club.
“It was fair. If you hit a good shot, the fairway here is right in front of you, so the 13th and 15th were holes where you had to take advantage of it, but just the way the green bounced you could have made a birdie. It was still hard to aim. Overall, I thought the course played really fair. It was hard to get close, and every time I made a 15- to 20-foot birdie putt, I had to try to claw my way back. I felt like I had to make a putt.”
Friday’s average score of 75.08 was the worst at the Masters since 2007, when Zach Johnson won the green jacket with one over.
Schauffele seems to be taking the right mental approach. However, the wind has died down and he will need to run lower on Saturday if he wants to make a difference to the leaders.
Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social media platforms.
