The Masters: Trevor Immelman Leads, Phil Mickelson Three Behind

Conditions at Augusta were ripe for birdies on Friday morning and Trevor Immelman took full advantage of his early tee time.

Friday morning players were greeted with the second day in a row of perfect golfing weather. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that the winds began to swirl at Augusta National.

Trevor Immelman, 28, matched his opening round score of 68 on Friday and finds himself alone at the top the Masters Leaderboard.

Immelman is somewhat of a protege of fellow South African Gary Player. Although undoubtedly biased to his fellow South African protege, Player has repeatedly stated that Immelman's swing is the closest thing to perfection he has see since Ben Hogan.

The co-leader at the start of the day, Justin Rose, dropped out of sight on Friday with a second round 78 which included a devastating triple bogey on the 15^th

Phil Mickelson followed his opening round 71 with an impressive round of 68 on Friday, which places him in striking distance of the leader for the first time in a Major since his collapse at the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot.

It appears that Tiger Woods quest for the Grand Slam could end at the season's first major. Woods shot a 71 on Friday and is currently seven strokes behind leader Immelman.

Although not impossible, Woods is facing a mammoth challenge heading into the weekend. The largest deficit overcome by Woods at a major is 6-strokes. But this year, it appears that Augusta National has been able to tame the World's number one golfer. Modifications to the course, swirling wind yesterday afternoon and Tiger's erratic play off the tee, has provided Woods with an ongoing battle over the past two days.

For Woods, or anyone for that matter, to have a chance at moving up the leaderboard this afternoon, they will need to find the fairway off the tee.

Augusta's large Georgia pines line the sides of most fairways and can provide for some very unforgiving shots for those who are erratic off the tee.

They say the Masters champion is never decided until the back nine of the final round. But, today is moving day and those who have aspirations of putting on a green jacket tomorrow evening will need to play stellar golf this afternoon. At Augusta National, success begins with finding the fairway off of the tee.