Masters 2013: Highlighting Players Who Were Biggest Winners and Losers on Day 2

In two days, this Masters has already produced much to be excited about.

Some big names lurk near the top of the leaderboard, a 14-year-old survived the cut and the man in the lead is a young Australian with a world full of talent.

Of course, not every storyline is so cheery. Plenty of players have been majorly disappointing thus far, and let's not forget that a penalty ruling almost cost the teenage Guan his spot on the weekend.

Thursday provided a good starting point for the 2013 Masters, but the second day brought more context to the event as we reach the halfway mark to the finish. There was some good and some bad on the second day; here's who made out best and worst on that hectic Masters' Friday.

Winner: Jason Dufner

Not sure anyone noticed this, but Dufner is right in the middle of contention with 36 holes to play.

It's all thanks to a beautiful second-day 69, a round that included seven birdies, four of them on par-fours. Recently known for starting a trend called "Dufnering," where one takes a picture of his or herself slumping down with a mopey, disheveled look, the American put the focus back on what he became famous for in the first place, his golf game.

He was actually the co-leader here last year after 36 holes, making this year's effort a demotion of sorts. But Dufner now has the experience of two wins on the PGA Tour, triumphs that can only serve to boost his confidence being so near the top heading into Saturday.

Maybe he'll deal better with the pressure this time. Whether or not he does though, at least we have solace that his expression will not change regardless.

Winner: Fred Couples

Somehow the old man with the bad back keeps on doing it. 

Annually, it seems the 53-year-old Couples finds the fountain of youth when he tees it off at Augusta, and this year has been no different. An opening-round 68 put him in good position after the first day, and five more birdies on Friday were enough to offset his mistakes and produce a second consecutive sub-par round, this time a 71.

Couples succeeded today a bit different than usual, he hit the ball well but, uncharacteristically, rolled in some key putts. What it's added up to is a two-day total of five-under 139 and a spot in the last group Saturday, the same exact scenario he put himself in at last year's Masters (only he actually held a share of the lead rather than being one back).

Couples didn't handle it well that time, finishing outside the top 10 by tournament's end, and he hasn't been in serious contention on the back nine Sunday here since 2006.

But Couples' game clearly fits on this course. In fact, it's always been perplexing that he's only won one green jacket. Once again, he is in prime position with 36 holes to play to take home a second Masters title. Maybe this is the time it actually happens.

Loser: Dustin Johnson

Who said this guy only implodes on Sundays at the majors? 

With his performance at Augusta on Friday, Johnson made sure another round of golf would be added to his repertoire of championship calamities. In complete control of his game and in the solo lead at 7-under after a fourth birdie in 10 holes on 13, the long-bombing American inexplicably tumbled down the leaderboard.

His first misstep was a bogey at 14, but his error at 15 precipitated his collapse. A wedge in hand on his third shot, Johnson hit it right into the pond that guarded in front. The splash meant double bogey, and Johnson immediately felt the effects.

Another bogey came at 17, and after leaving his third in the bunker on 18, a second double bogey in four holes followed. Johnson had dropped all the way to one-under and into a tie for 20th in a matter of five holes.

He has 36 holes to overcome this most recent collapse, but he had a good shot at being in the lead at this point. Now, he needs two spectacular rounds if he wants to put on his first green jacket.

Winner: Tianlang Guan

Just what the PGA Tour wanted, the slow play issue taking center stage at one of the sport's four most important tournaments. 

For once, it was actually in defense of the slug-in-salt, glaciers-move-fast-by-comparison play that has plagued many of golf's best touring pros. The incident that caused all of this hullabaloo involved the 14-year-old Guan, who, due to some more brilliant putting, had stitched together another fantastic round of golf, standing in the 17th fairway only two-over par for the day and three-over for the tournament.

After Guan hit his approach 15 feet from the cup, rules official John Paramor rushed over to talk to the teenager. Never a good sign, Paramor dispensed some bad news: Guan, who had received his first official warning for slow play on 13, was going to be penalized one stroke after taking well over his allotted 40 seconds on his approach shot to 17.

The extra stroke gave Guan a bogey on 17, and when he putted out for his par on the next, he was left hanging outside the top 50 and ties, meaning only staying within 10 shots of the lead was going to save him from packing his bags.

The penalty threatened much of the day to be the biggest story of Round 2 at the Masters. Was a 14-year-old really going to miss the cut because of a slow play penalty? It was the same type of penalty that hasn't been handed out in a major championship since 2004 and in a regular PGA Tour event since 1995.

Luckily, Guan did finish exactly 10 shots back and made the cut on the number. Remarkably, this 14-year-old will play the weekend in what may be the most pressure-packed golf tournament in the world. Even if he hadn't, he still would've been a victor for how he fought. The loser in that scenario would've been Augusta National. In this case, Guan shocked everybody else but himself to survive to the weekend at the Masters.

Loser: Phil Mickelson

The lefty's inconsistency continues to haunt his bid for a fifth major championship. He had it going steady over his first 26 holes, mixing in enough birdies against his squares to sit at two-under par and just four off the lead.

Then bad Phil decided to emerge. Mickelson bogeyed nine and 10, and the killer blow came when his tee shot splashed in the pond on 12 and led to a double bogey. All of the good karma he may've still had up until that shot was irrevocably lost.

Another dropped stroke in the last six holes capped off a 10-hole five-over par stretch of golf that left Mickelson a full nine shots off the lead.

Mickelson's Masters charge in 2013 effectively ended with his triple bogey on the fourth hole Sunday. This year, Mickelson squandered a promising start, and his real chances at victory probably ended with that water ball on 12.

Winner: Rory McIlroy

Sometimes it can take one great hole for a player to get back into a tournament. Such was the case for McIlroy who stood in the eighth fairway at two-over par for the tournament and only a bogey or two away from seriously thinking about the cut line before an eagle awoke him from his slumber.

It was a monumental moment for the 22-year-old who parlayed the confidence into three birdies (against one bogey) on the back nine. From out of contention 10 holes before, McIlroy now sits at two-under par and is right in the thick of the hunt.

A player's hopes for a major championship are very precarious. On one hole Friday, McIlroy rejuvenated his at the Masters.

Loser: Hunter Mahan

To be fair, Mahan didn't exactly have a stellar first day. He opened in 76 and put himself well behind the eight ball even with a full three rounds to go. But plenty expected Mahan to perform this week at Augusta. The guy is known as a birdie machine, and a score in the 60s would've put him right back on track.

Well, Mahan did indeed avoid a score in the 70s Friday. He double bogeyed four times, failed to break 40 on either nine, and ultimately signed for a ghastly 82. So much for a round in the 60s. In fact, Mahan was much closer to an 86 than say, the 68 that would've gotten him back to even par.

It was truly an awful performance from the highly talented 30-year-old. Over two days, he hit barely half of his greens and took a whopping 66 putts. Mahan fell into a massive pit in the last eight months of 2012 after two wins early in the year. He better take a close examination of what went wrong at Augusta, otherwise the same might happen in 2013.

Winner: Angel Cabrera

Where does this guy keep coming from? He shows up on absolutely zero meaningful leaderboards for years, and then, every so often at the game's biggest events, he suddenly surfaces.

You can't really expect the ordinary from a man who proudly goes by the nickname "el pato" (spanish for "the duck"). His play Friday provided further proof. Cabrera was two-over par for the day and one-over for the tournament, and then decided to go berserk. He birdied 13. He birdied 14. He birdied 15. He birdied 16. He then decided to try out a par on 17 just for kicks, didn't like it, and promptly added a fifth birdie in six holes when he made three on 18.

Suddenly a lackluster round became a 69, punctuated by a scintillating back-nine 31. And now, Cabrera sits just two shots off the lead with 36 holes to play.

Many people will still not take his chances seriously. Then again, they did the same thing at the 2007 U.S. Open and the 2009 edition of the Masters. Cabrera won both of those tournaments.

Don't sleep on "el pato," a third major championship is not beyond his grasp.

Loser: Rickie Fowler

On the first day, Fowler made two double bogeys and shot a 68. On the second day, Fowler recorded zero doubles and shot a 76.

Are you confused? You should be. The 23-year-old somehow dusted off those two double squares on Thursday by pumping in six birdies and an eagle. He actually wasn't playing too poorly for much of Friday either, after all through 15 holes he had produced two birdies against three bogeys and stood at three-under for the tournament.

Fowler then hit a downright puzzling shot on 16. On a hole not known for its water being in play, Fowler became one of the few to dunk his tee shot into the pond short and left.

Part of being young is not minimizing your mistakes, and Fowler certainly didn't buck that stereotype. His third landed well right of the hole, on the top shelf of the green, leaving him a putt that he would do well to get down in two. One three-jack later, and Fowler added a triple bogey six to his card.

Despite playing three holes this week in a combined seven-over par, Fowler is still even for the tournament and well in contention. But when you think that he lipped out a putt on 15 Friday to go four-under for the event, it is a decidedly less positive circumstance.

Winner: Jason Day

I will say this 1,000 times if I have to, Jason Day is going to be a superstar. That's not an overreaction from his play Friday, just a hunch based on watching his game for years. Then again, that round didn't exactly make me shy away from my statement.

A year after withdrawing in the middle of the Round 2 due to a nagging foot injury, Day vaulted to the top of the leaderboard at the Masters on the second day. He followed an early bogey with birdies at five and seven, but the real game changer came when he turned home toward the clubhouse.

The Australian birdied the always difficult 10th and made a miraculous birdie from the pine straw on 11 after hitting a splendid shot 15 feet from the cup and putting a beautiful stroke on the incredibly slippery putt. 

His biggest moment came at 12, when he let his tee shot fade short into the water. A double bogey was not going to portend a strong finish to the round, but Day has always been known for his grit and ability to get up and down from almost anywhere. He did just that, made two more birdies afterward and ended up with the round of the day, a 68, and the lead by one.

Day had his first shot at a Masters title two years ago. With 36 holes to go, he has a second chance to take home a green jacket. It could be the breakthrough win he has long been searching for.

Loser: Sergio Garcia

What a tease. Even if it was only one round, Garcia produced inspiring play in his opening-day 66. Nobody was proclaiming the Spaniard this year's victor at that point, but there was the creeping thought that maybe this was his time.

While sunshine and smiles followed Garcia everywhere he went on Thursday, a dark cloud seemed to hang over him as soon as his ball left the first tee on Friday. On a course that has four par-fives, Garcia, shockingly, was unable to procure a single birdie in his 18 holes.

Instead, "El Niño" stormed his way to four lone bogeys, and it could have been worse. Garcia found the water three times on the back nine, and made a pair of 10-footers to stave off two more lost strokes. Still, the damage control only limited what was already a vast amount of damage, avoiding a 78 but still putting up a mediocre 76.

Let's not assume that Garcia is out of this tournament though. Is he in a worse position than he was after yesterday's round? Easily so, but look at the facts. He has 36 holes to make up just four strokes. Not an easy task, but certainly not daunting and definitely not impossible for a man who desperately needs a major championship.

Winner/Loser: Tiger Woods

Overall, this was just a strange day for the 14-time major champion.

Woods started out well with birdies at five and seven courtesy of a pair of lengthy mid-range putts, and a third at the eighth after finding the green in two. He then continued to ride his hot flatstick, making key saving par putts at 10, 12 and 14 to stay three-under for the day and five-under for the tournament.

It got weird on 15. Wedge in hand for his third, Woods may've gotten the most unfortunate break on a golf course in his life. His ball, seemingly destined to finish within a few feet of the hole, rattled the flagstick, ricocheted backward and unceremoniously rolled all the way into the hazard fronting the green.

It was an awful break. Just like that, Woods had gone from a chance to get to six under and in the solo lead to fighting just to avoid falling all the way back to minus three. He regrouped and got up for, considering the circumstances, an excellent bogey. The damage had been done though. He had lost a shot instead of gaining one, and he added another bogey at 18 to finish with a 71.

All in all, it was a disappointing finish for a round that Woods later said he thought deserved to be in the 60s. Nonetheless it was still a solid score and leaves him in a good spot to charge to his 15th major title.

Could the bad finish have demoralized him? Maybe, but then again Woods bogeyed his last three holes during Round 2 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ago, and he did just fine there.