Masters 2012 Leaderboard: Top Storylines Heading into the Weekend

A few days before the 2012 Masters Tournament began, I made some bold predictions about the year's first major championship. One of those predictions was that 52-year-old Fred Couples would make his presence felt on the leaderboard for a second straight year. My exact words were:

"Wouldn't it be incredible if Fred Couples could pull this off? Now that would be a bold prediction."

I didn't go so far as to say that Couples would win the golf tournament—as much as I would like to see that happen—but I did declare that he would finish under par.

Understand this, however—after 36 holes, Couples is doing more than simply competing. He's leading the Masters heading into the weekend. What if he does accomplish the nearly impossible, like 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus did in winning his record sixth green jacket back in 1986?

Couples fired the best round of the day on Friday—a five-under-par 67—in cold, windy conditions, to join last year's PGA Championship runner-up, Jason Dufner, atop the leaderboard at five-under par.

Several other elder statesmen are also proving that experience can play a key role in enjoying success at Augusta National—48-year-old Miguel Angel Jiminez and 49-year-old former Masters champion Vijay Singh are both in the mix. Jiminez is just two shots behind the leaders and Singh trails by only three shots.

Can age and experience trump youthful exuberance, though? The weekend will answer that question.

Rory McIlroy, the No. 2 ranked player in the world who so famously squandered his 54-hole lead on the back nine at Augusta on Sunday last year, is lurking just two shots behind the leaders after an impressive three-under-par round of 69 on Day 2.

Of course, the 22-year-old McIlroy answered his critics with a convincing US Open championship victory last year, but there is no question he has unfinished business here.

His round on Friday proved that he is still very much alive to win his second major. His mettle will be tested, though, by a talented field and a golf course that should become faster with a sunny and dry weekend weather forecast.

As if those stories weren't enough to set the table for an incredible Saturday and Sunday, there are more angles to consider.

Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson rebounded from a disappointing and erratic opening-round 74 on Thursday with a four-under-par 68 on Friday. That puts Lefty just three shots back.

And what about Sergio Garcia, a player I picked as a "dark horse" favorite entering this year's Masters? Garcia is only one shot behind the leaders after a round of 68 Friday.

Then there's a group of American players we're used to seeing on PGA Tour leaderboards on a regular basis—Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Nick Watney, Gary Woodland, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan and former Masters champ Zach Johnson are all within five shots of the lead.

One of the great things about the Masters tournament is that any player within 10 shots of the lead still has a chance to win.

That's good news for Tiger Woods, my choice to win his fifth green jacket this week, because he seems to have lost his mojo since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill a couple weeks ago.

Woods started his Friday round at even-par—five shots behind first round leader Lee Westwood—then proceeded to birdie two of the first three holes to get himself right in the mix at two-under-par. It was all downhill from there, however.

Tiger would stumble through his remaining 15 holes to finish eight shots behind the leaders at three-over-par.

There are already plenty of storylines to make this Masters weekend memorable. But if Woods can go low on "moving day"—Saturday—and somehow get himself into contention on Sunday, that would be the ultimate boost for what has been one of the most anticipated Masters tournaments in recent memory.