Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

Masters 2022, round 2: Respectable finish after ragged start has Henley making the cut (updated, coverage, leaderboard)

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
Masters 2022, round 2: Respectable finish after ragged start has Henley making the cut (updated, coverage, leaderboard)

            It took awhile.

            His start to the second round of the Masters matched the first – a double bogey – and that was about it for the similarities for a good while.

            Henley followed that with two birdies, then another double bogey and a bogey, suddenly dropping to 4 over as a projected cut line emerged at 2 over.

            It happened a later than it did on Thursday, but Henley eventually found some stability on the back nine to stay in the hunt to make the cut.

            The cut line moved to 3 over a little after lunch while Henley was 4 over and had started reeling off some pars, starting on 10.

            But he was still in a must-birdie mode down the stretch, and managed that on 15 and 17.

            He finished with a 2-over 74 for the day, putting him at 3 over for the tournament. Just about the time Henley finished, the projected cut jumped to 4, and he safely kept his streak of made cuts – every tournament this season – alive as one of 46 to continue.

            He tees off at 11:20 a.m. Saturday with former Georgia and Augusta standout Patrick Reed

            Henley headed to the clubhouse seven strokes behind co-leaders Sungjae Im and Danny Willett, with several players just getting going. He goes into Saturday in a group tied at 38th.

            Scottie Scheffler had a quality day, shooting a 5-under – seven birdies countered two bogeys - to go 8 under for the tournament and take a five-shot lead into Saturday.

            Henley was in one of the first groups to tee off on Friday.

            Thursday’s unsettling start was fairly quickly corrected after a bogey on No. 6, Henley with pars the rest of the way for a 1-over finish.

            The front nine holes Friday covered a spectrum: two double bogeys, two bogeys, two pars, and three birdies. It was a little reminiscent of Henley’s roller coaster ride at The Players Championship three weeks ago he racked up the rare albatross to go with a double eagle, eagle, birdie, par, bogey and double bogey.

            So extreme was that Monday that he followed a double bogey with the three-under par shot. All that was missing was a hole in one.

            Friday, Henley started off all over the place off the tee, leading to the rough holes. When he found the fairway, naturally, was when he parred or birdied.

            Through the front nine, he hit only half of the par 4/5 fairways, putting more pressure on his irons and short game.

            A bogey on 9 dropped him back to 4 over for the tournament, and in good company with Brooks Koepka, Freed Couples, Kevin Kisner, Seamus Power, and Sam Burns, among those struggling through the first round and/or early second round.

            When Henley made the turn, nine players at 2 over had yet to tee off, and another eight who had started were at 2 over, so the afternoon set up to be quite the race to make it.

            The cut was 2 over for the morning.

            Henley reeled off three straight pars to open the back nine, then his tee shot on 13 went deep into the right-side trees and pine straw, 254 yards from the hole but in a tough spot.

            He got it onto the fairway without trouble, though, 130 yards from the pin, his third shot on target to within less than 30 feet for an impressive birdie.

            But he was six inches short, and settled for a nice par.

            Still, it was pretty clear Henley would need more than pars down the stretch to make the cut, which moved to 3 over just after lunchtime.

            He saved par on 14 from the low rough just past the green, and needed to match that on 15. He chipped from another low-rough lie to within three feet, and birdied it.

            Henley was inside the projected cut of 3 over after parring 16, and gave himself a little breathing room with a nifty birdie on 17.

            His tee shot on 18 matched that of Thursday when he parred the hole, barely missing a birdie. But his second shot Friday barely reached the green and then rolled back, about 12 yards up for a birdie.

            He was short on the third shot, nine feet from a par, but settled for a bogey after missing left by about an inch.

            The two-round 147 matches his 2017 start, and he finished tied for 11th.


Some big names are done

            Four players in the FedEx Cup rankings top 50 could start making travel plans on Friday night, having failed to make the Masters cut.
            Adam Scott was with the final group, Scottie Scheffler and Tony Finau, and sat at 4 over entering 18. He parred to survive.
            Sam Burns is the highest ranked, entering the week at No. 2. He shot a 5-over 149, with a cut of 4 over.
            No. 25 Lucas Herbert shot the same, one stroke ahead of and No. 45 Jordan Spieth and No. 58 Brooks Koepka.
No. 50 Xander Schauffele finished at 7 over, one better than No. 11 Luke List and two better than No. 19 Cameron Young. No. 35 Matthew Wolf shot a brutal 15 over.
Names of note who are two rounds and out: No. 70 Brian Harman, 5 over; No. 129 Zach Johnson, 5 over; No. 124 Ryan Palmer, 6 over; No. 139 Stewart Cink, 7 over (despite an ace); Fred Couples, 10 over; Larry Mize, 11 over; No. 214 Bryson DeChambeau, 12 over.