US Masters round 2 recap: Brooks Koepka leads at stormy Augusta

bet365 News Team Updated: 08 Apr 23 21:51 Published: 08 Apr 23 08:06

American Brooks Koepka is in a strong position to land his first US Masters after building a three-shot lead in round two at a weather-affected Augusta National.

The former world number one, who plays his golf on the LIV circuit, followed up his seven-under-par 65 on day one with a bogey-free round of 67 to move onto -12 for the tournament.

It has been a super performance from the 32-year-old over the opening 36 holes and he is reproducing the kind of form that saw him land four Major titles from 2017-2019 (two PGA Championships and two US Opens).

Koepka managed to get his second set of 18 holes completed before the stormy weather arrived at Augusta National and forced play to be suspended twice, the latter stoppage seeing three trees fall next to the 17th tee which ended the action prematurely on Friday.

While the American is in a strong position and can be backed at 5/4 to win his first Green Jacket, the predicted bad weather over the weekend has seriously brought about the chance of a first Monday finish at the US Masters since 1983.

Since 2017, of the players to have either led or been tied for the lead at the halfway stage, four of those have gone on to win the tournament, so the omens are good for Koepka right now.

Rahm leads chasing pack

This is by no means done and dusted at the midway point and the closest challenger to Koepka is Spaniard Jon Rahm, who is three shots back on -9 and still has the back nine of his second round to complete.

Depending what the conditions are like on Saturday, the 28-year-old will be hoping to make a few more birdies to round off his second set of 18 and close the gap to the leader.

Rahm, who has recovered superbly since his double-bogey start on the opening day, is 2/1 to win the prestigious Green Jacket and add a second Major title to his collection after his US Open triumph in 2021.

Amateur making a name for himself

One of the biggest stories so far is the performance of amateur Sam Bennett, who has carded back-to-back rounds of 68 to sit on -8 and put himself in contention for an historic victory.

The 23-year-old has handled himself remarkably well on his US Masters debut and he is 35/1 to become the first amateur to win the tournament.

Rising American star Bennett is making just his second appearance at a Major, his first outing saw him end up T49 at the US Open last year.

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Quality in behind

There are plenty of big-name players attempting to chase down Koepka over the weekend and one of those is Collin Morikawa, who signed for another three-under 69 to go to -6 for the event.

He is joined on that mark by Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who was one-over-par for his third round before play was suspended and he still has eight holes left to complete.

Jason Day, Sam Burns and Jordan Spieth are all a further shot in arrears, as is Cameron Young, though he still has the back nine of his second round to finish and will be hoping to get closer to the leaders.

Phil Mickelson, a three-time US Masters champion, is sitting on -4 alongside Justin Rose, Joaquin Niemann, Gary Woodland, Russell Henley, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry and Adam Scott.

Of that cluster, Henley, Reed, Lowry and Scott have one, four, five and eight holes of their second rounds to complete, respectively, before then taking to the course for another set of 18.

Woe for McIlroy but hope for Woods

Rory McIlroy's wait for that elusive Green Jacket, and with it the Grand Slam, goes on for another year after he finished on five-over-par, three shots outside of the cut line as things stand.

The Northern Irishman struggled for consistency throughout Friday's round and will be hoping to put this latest Georgia attempt firmly in his rear view mirror.

While it was a disappointing tournament for McIlroy, there is still hope that Tiger Woods will make the cut as he currently sits right on the +2 mark with seven holes of his second round to go.

It has been a battling performance from the American so far and he will need to use all of his experience and determination to ensure he is still around this weekend.