Steve Flesch, like Vijay Singh, has switched from a belly putter to a conventional putter in recent weeks. (Getty Images)

Then he heard the weather man say that 3 inches of rain fell in Augusta on Saturday, and "I was a little bummed out," Flesch admitted.

The 40-year-old from Kentucky, you see, is not one of the PGA TOUR's bigger hitters. Far from it, actually, with an average of 276.4 yards off the tee that ranks him 146th among his peers.

"If anybody knows how to get about 15 more yards in the air, I'm sure there's about 70 guys out here who would like to know about it," Flesch said.

Flesch hits his tee shot on the 465-yard 18th on Friday morning. (Getty Images)

The Masters

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Augusta National's 7.445 yards are enough of a challenge when it's playing firm and fast. Throw in soft conditions, and Flesch knew he was in for a test -- but he's made the grade through two rounds after Fridays' 67 left him three strokes off the lead.

Flesch' round of 67 is the lowest score shot in the last two Masters. Paul Casey's second-round 68 was the low score in 2007.

Flesch made his mark in the second round on the par 5s -- playing them in 5 under with an eagle and three birdies. He teed off in the second group of the day, with Craig Stadler and Johnson Wagner, and took advantage of relative benign conditions, as well as the faster pace of play.

"Even with a little bit of wind today, I tell you, I drove the ball so well and hit my irons just great," said Flesch, who also shot 67 in the second round in 2005. "I put them underneath the hole and putted extremely well. ...

"Playing early is always nice. ... We never saw the first group. That twosome took off, and you know, yesterday it was a long day, because we waited on every shot. Today we just kind of flew.

"And with Craig Stadler in the group, you're not going to wait long on your playing partners, either."

The Champions Tour stalwart couldn't keep pace with Flesch on the scoreboard, but he did match the eagle the 40-year-old from Kentucky made on the 13th hole. Both now have two more Waterford goblets for their trophy cases as a result.

"It's funny, because that's the first thing Stads said after he made the eagle, 'A little more crystal.'" said Flesch, who hit a 3-iron to 30 inches at the 510-yard par 5. "It's not, "Hey I made eagle." It's, "Hey, I got some more crystal.'"

Flesch might also be taking home that vase that goes to the man who had the day's low score. He did it by taking advantage of the par 5s -- as Zach Johnson did a year ago -- and relying on his always solid wedge and iron play.

Flesch did give into temptation on the 13th and 15th holes, though, and reached both par 5s in two. He thought the 3-iron he hit from 234 yards at No. 13 was too much club, but he had to give props to his caddy once it landed 30 inches from the pin.

"I thought it was over the green," Flesch acknowledged. "From where you're standing in the fairway, ... there's a little bit of a drop off till it gets to the back of the green. There's about five or six feet and I thought it rolled off the back edge, which is fine, but I was going to try to make a point to my caddy that it wasn't the right club.

"Then you heard the crowd kind of reacting to and he goes, 'Dude, I told you it was the right bat. And I said, 'Yeah, you're right. Good call.'

Flesch appears to have made another good call by switching from a belly putter to one of conventional length two weeks ago. He won the Reno-Tahoe Open and Turning Stone Resort Championship last year with a long putter, but decided he wanted more feel.

"I got frustrated with it because I was hitting it a lot better and not getting anything out of my rounds," Flesch explained. "Earlier in the year I was playing good but not making anything. I just finally decided, if you want to be a great putter again I can be a decent putter with the belly putter but I'm not going to be a great putter and run the tables with it."

The decision is paying dividends this week as Flesch has used just 27 putts in each of his first two rounds. He's hit 20 fairways and 24 greens over the first two rounds, and he's looking forward to the weekend.

"I tell you, when I get to hitting the ball solidly like I did today and actually yesterday, ... I know I can win this tournament, or any tournament," Flesch said. "I've always been a streaky player. Everybody plays on confidence but I play on a lot of feel and a lot of momentum and a lot of rhythm. ...

"I still hit it far enough but to compete with those guys I have to take advantage of the par 5s. I like the fact that not everybody can get to the par 5s here. It's an advantage for the longer players, but at the same time, you can make a lot of bogeys and doubles going for these par 5s, too.

"It's not like these are just wide open par 5s that you can hit it 300 off the tee and you can get home. There's some dynamics to those holes where even if you are long, you still have to hit good shots."

Just like Flesch did on Friday.