AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Bryson DeChambeau, the betting favorite entering this Masters, had another wild ride at Augusta National Golf Club in the second round, which was halted because of darkness Friday.
Through 12 holes of the second round, DeChambeau sits one shot below the projected cut line of even par.
When play resumes Saturday morning, DeChambeau will have a 17-foot eagle putt on the par-5 13th to get on the right side of the line.
Then again, if the first two days of the 2020 Masters were any indication, there will probably be plenty of drama over his final five holes.
DeChambeau is the fourth consecutive major champion to struggle in his next major start -- and he would be the third to miss the cut if he doesn't make up ground when play resumes.
PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa missed the cut at the U.S. Open; 2019 Open Championship winner Shane Lowry tied for 66th at the PGA Championship; and 2019 U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland missed the cut at the 2019 Open Championship.
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, DeChambeau would be the first player since Greg Norman in 1990 to miss the cut at the Masters after entering as the betting favorite.
DeChambeau isn't the only player with work to do Saturday morning. Matt Kuchar is 1 under with five holes to play; Tony Finau is 1 under with seven to play; and Lowry, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth are even with eight to go. Woodland is 3 over with eight to play.
Matthew Wolff (3 over), Tyrrell Hatton (3 over), Francesco Molinari (6 over) and Fred Couples (6 over) completed their second rounds and will miss the cut.
Rory's save
Things didn't look good for Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who is trying to complete the career grand slam by winning a green jacket. Shortly after first-round play resumed Friday morning, he had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch (with a birdie) on the second nine and settled for a 3-over 75.
After starting his second round less than a half-hour later, he had four birdies on the second nine and two more on the first nine with no bogeys for a 6-under 66.
"I honestly have been playing so good coming in here, and then I go into the first round and I shoot 75, and I'm like, 'Where the hell did that come from?'" McIlroy said. "I knew it was in there, it was just a matter of, as I said, just trusting a little more and being committed. It was better [Friday] afternoon."
McIlroy still has plenty of work to do. He'll start the third round six shots behind co-leaders Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith,
Koepka's bad break
Brooks Koepka, who finished second behind Tiger Woods here a year ago, finally had momentum going and was in good position on the par-4 third hole. After a 281-yard drive, Koepka was in the middle of the fairway and only 60 yards from the hole.
Then his second shot bounced off the top of the flagstick and rolled 32 yards away.
"I mean, that's why I don't aim at flags, right?" Koepka said. "Technically, I was trying to hit it right of it, so I pulled it."
Still, with birdies on his last two holes, Nos. 8 and 9, Koepka will start the third round four shots behind the leaders.
"It is a little bit tougher sometimes with no fans to really kind of get in there and grind it out," Koepka said. "I mean, I'm not going to quit, but [I'm] just putting it in stupid places sometimes where it's like, 'That's the one spot you know you can't miss it, and I put it there."
Young and, well, not-so-young
Amateur John Augenstein, the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up and a fifth-year senior at Vanderbilt, had his name on the leaderboard for quite a while on Friday.
First, Augenstein eagled the par-5 13th hole by chipping in from below the green. He had pars on his final five holes for a 3-under 69 in the first round.
The 23-year-old was just as good in the second round with three birdies on the second nine, his first nine holes of the round. He had a bogey-free round going until he bogeyed No. 5 and had a triple on No. 7.
He shot even par 72 in the second round and is the low amateur at 3 under, which was good enough for a tie for 27th.
Another amateur, Georgia Tech's Andy Ogletree, who defeated Augenstein at the U.S. Amateur a year ago, is even with eight holes to go.
Meanwhile, Germany's Bernhard Langer, at age 63 and nearly three times as old as Augenstine and Ogletree, sits at 3-under after 36 holes. He became the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters 34 days. Tommy Aaron held the previous record by making the cut in 2000 at 63 years, 44 days.
"It actually makes me feel older when I play with these young guys and I see how far they hit it and how short I hit it," Langer said. "It makes me feel older, not younger. I like this golf course. I think I know how to get around it, even though I hit very long clubs. But it's certainly not easy. It's a lot hitter's place, always has been."
There is a still a chance Langer could get company from his age group this weekend. Larry Mize, at 62, still has a chance to make the cut. He stands two shots off the cut number with four holes remaining in his second round.
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Everything you need to know for what could be a wild Saturday at the Masters - ESPN
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