With a scrambling par save on No. 18, Fred Couples carded a second round 68 to move to 5-under for the tournament, good for a tie for third at The Masters. Couples put together an outstanding round on Friday, making five birdies to just one bogey as he safely navigated the course at Augusta National. At the moment, Couples has the low round of the day in the clubhouse as scores are a bit higher than Thursday’s first round.
Couples drained birdies on No. 2, No. 4 and No. 7 to go out in 33 in his second round before moving to 4-under with a birdie on No. 12, the most recognizable hole at Augusta. He added a birdie on the par five 15th before giving one back on the par three 16th. Couples left his approach hole-high but down the slope on the left side of the green at No. 18, using a putter to leave himself a lengthy slider for par. His putt was true, giving him a 68 for the day and putting him safely near the top of the leaderboard.
Rory McIlory still sits atop the leaderboard at 2-under for the day and 9-under for the tournament. McIlroy is through seven holes and has a clean card — two birdies to no bogeys. K.J. Choi is alone is second at 8-under for the tournament, followed by a large group at 5-under. First round leader Alvaro Quiros is at 2-over for the day and sits in a tie for third with Y.E. Yang, Ricky Barnes and others.
We’ll be following all the action in our 2011 Masters StoryStream throughout the day, so check back early and often for the latest updates. For more on the tournament, check out SB Nation’s full 2011 Masters coverage, or head over to SB Nation Atlanta.