Notebook: 36-hole lead score is one of highest ever

Only four times in Masters history has the halfway lead been above Friday's 2-under 142. Plus, Ernie Els sees a long cuts-made streak fall by the wayside, Masters rookie Brett Wetterich joins some exclusive company, and more.  

By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark share the second-round lead at the Masters at 2-under-par 142, making this one of the highest 36-hole leader's scores in Masters history.

The highest leading scores after two rounds are even-par 144 by Billy Joe Patton in 1954 and by Craig Stadler and Curtis Strange in 1982. Herman Keiser and Lloyd Mangrum shared the 1949 lead at 1-under 143, as did Peter J. Butler and Paul Harney in 1966.

Fred Couples tied Gary Player's Masters record of making 23 consecutive cuts. The 1992 champion posted rounds of 76-76 and made the cut on the number, thanks to playing the final six holes in 1 under par. Couples was 9 over after opening his back nine bogey-bogey-double bogey. Couples is a perfect 23-for-23 at the Masters now. His streak began in 1983. He did not play at Augusta in the 1987 or 1994. Player made 23 consecutive cuts from 1959-82.

Ben Crenshaw has now made the cut two straight years at the Masters after missing eight in a row starting in 1998. The 55-year old Texan posted scores of 74-76--150 and is tied for 33rd place.

Ernie Els (78-76) missed the cut by two shots and saw his current PGA TOUR consecutive cut streak come to an end. The two-time U.S. Open champion had made 46 straight cuts, dating back to the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational. Jim Furyk is now the current cut streak leader with 20 in a row (includes this week).

Ernie Els also ends a streak of 27 consecutive cuts made in major championships. The last time Els missed a cut in a major was at the 1999 PGA Championship.

Defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson (76-73) advanced to the weekend by playing the last seven holes in 2 under par. Mickelson has made 30 straight cuts in major championships.

Four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods rallied Friday with two birdies on his final four holes. Woods carded a 2-over 74 and finds himself tied for 15th and five shots back of the leaders at the halfway point.

Tiger Woods continues his mastery of the par 5s at Augusta National. Woods is 4 under on the par 5s this week. He is +2 on the par 3s and +5 on the par 4s. For his career, Woods is now 88 under par on the quartet of par 5s.

Vijay Singh (73-71) is at even-par at the halfway mark and tied for fourth place. Singh will be looking to extend his string of top-10 finishes at the Masters. In his last five starts at Augusta National, Singh has finished 7th, T6, T6, T5 and T8 last year.

Second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone to win 27 times at the Masters. The last to do it was Mike Weir in 2003. Other recent 36-hole leaders/co-leaders who have won include Seve Ballesteros (1980), Sandy Lyle (1988), Nick Faldo (1989), Tiger Woods (1997), Jose Maria Olazabal (1999) and Mike Weir (2003).

How far back can you be after 36 holes and still win at Augusta National? The largest deficit ever made up over the final 36 holes is eight strokes, by Jack Burke in 1956. Burke posted rounds of 72-71 and was 1 under, 8 shots back of leader of Ken Venturi.

Tim Clark has never held/shared a 36-hole lead in his PGA TOUR career. Clark has been at the top of the leaderboard only twice in his career. He was part of a six-way tie for the lead after the opening round of the 2001 Touchstone Energy Tucson Classic and he shared the 54-hole lead with Rich Beem and Tom Pernice, Jr. at the 2005 FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort.

Tim Clark (71-71) has a history of playing well in major championships. Clark was runner-up at the 2006 Masters, tied for third at the 2005 U. S. Open and was solo third at the 2003 PGA Championship. Clark has now made 12 cuts in 19 in major championship starts.

Co-leader Brett Wetterich (69-73) stands at 2-under-par 142 in his rookie start at Augusta National. Wetterich has struggled on the par 5s (2 over) this week, but has done well on the par 4s (5 under). Wetterich's nemesis has been the par-5, 15th, which he has bogeyed both days.

Wetterich is only the eighth rookie in Masters history to hold/share the 36-hole lead. The others are: Horton Smith (1934), Lloyd Mangrum (1940), Billy Joe Patton (1954), Bert Yancey (1967), Mark Lye (1984), Jeff Maggert (1993) and Chris DiMarco (2001).

This is unfamiliar territory for Wetterich when it comes to major championships. He had missed the cut in his only three previous starts, at the 1998 U.S. Open, 2006 British Open and the 2006 PGA Championship.

Wetterich becomes the sixth rookie in Masters history to hold/share both the first and second-round leads. The others were Horton Smith (1934), Lloyd Mangrum (1940), Billy Joe Patton (1954), Bert Yancey (1967) and Chris DiMarco (2001).

Clemson University graduate Lucas Glover is making only his seventh start in a major championship, and is tied for eighth after rounds of 74-71. He missed the cut last year in his first Masters appearance. He is 0-2 at the U. S. Open, 0-1 at the British Open and 1-2 at the PGA Championship (T46 last year).

Jerry Kelly is a perfect 5-for-5 in cuts made at the Masters now, but his 3-under 69 was the first time he has posted a sub-70 score in 18 total rounds. Kelly's 69 put him at even-par for 36 holes and tied for fourth place. In four previous starts here, the Wisconsin native has never been better than T20. In fact, Kelly has teed it up 28 times and made 17 cuts in the majors (including this week), but his T20 efforts at Augusta in 2002 and 2005 are the only times he has been in the top 20 at a major.

Craig Stadler, playing in his 31st Masters and making his 29th consecutive start, posted rounds of 74-73 and is 3 over par, tied for 15th place. This is the best opening 36 holes for the 1982 champion since 2002, when opened with rounds of 73-72and went on to finish T32. Stadler's last top-10 here came in 1988, when he finished third.

Zach Johnson bogeyed his final three holes Friday afternoon to drop out of sole possession of the lead and into a tie for fourth place. Johnson is at even-par 144 and two shots back of co-leaders Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark.

Maybe there's something about Zach Johnson and winning in the month of April. Johnson earned his first Nationwide Tour win on April 27, 2003, at the First Tee Arkansas Classic in Hot Springs Village. He earned his first PGA TOUR win on April 4, 2004 at the BellSouth Classic near Atlanta. Maybe his first major win will follow the April trend?

FBR Open champion Aaron Baddeley birdied the final two holes Friday for an even-par 72. More importantly, the two birdies allowed Baddeley to make the 36-hole cut at 7-over 151.

Camilo Villegas first two official trips around Augusta National are two he'd probably like to forget. The Masters rookie shot rounds of 80-85 and wound up 21 over par while making only three birdies. Nothing seemed to go right for the Colombia native, who hit only 21 of 36 greens in regulation, 15 of 28 fairways, was 1 of 6 in sand saves and had a whopping 72 putts (39 Thursday, 33 Friday). Villegas three-putted a total of six times -- three times each day.

Putting continues to be a key on the greens at Augusta National this week. Through 36 holes, only 11 players did not have a single three-putt green. Of those 11, only five advanced to the weekend: Dean Wilson, David Howell, David Toms, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods.