Masters Tournament 2013: Day 2 Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More

Rain thrashed down in the early morning hours of Augusta National on Friday, sending the scores high and plenty of golfers frustrated with their second-round scores. But by afternoon, the skies opened to a beautiful sunshine alongside the leaderboard for leader Jason Day.

Playing in the day's last group, Day took advantage of the improved conditions late. He knocked down a continual string of beautiful putts, hitting six birdies against two bogeys for a score of 68.

With an overall score of six under, the 25-year-old Day, who tied for second at Augusta in 2011, will have a one-stroke lead over the entire field heading into Saturday's action.

One of those golfers who looked like they would be one stroke behind was Tiger Woods. The world's top-ranked golfer spent much of his second round with a share of the lead, where he was tied atop the leaderboard at five under for much of his day. 

Woods was calm, cool and collected—until frustration struck at hole No. 15. Hitting what looked to be a beautiful approach on the par-five hole, Woods looked on in horror as the shot went hightailing it in reverse and into the water.

He recovered for a bogey, but the damage was done. Hole No. 18 proved to be another frustrating ending for Woods, who wound up finishing his day one under with a score of 71. Tiger is three behind Day and is tied for seventh place. 

Also looking up at Day (but not by as much) is Fred Couples, whose thrilling run through Augusta continues. The 53-year-old Couples finished Day 2 with a seemingly innocuous one-under score of 71, but his day was filled with massive ups and downs.

Staring his day with two bogeys and a double-bogey (along with two birdies) in his first seven holes, Couples looked frazzled under the spotlight. But a birdie on the par-five eighth hole started a calm string and he began clawing his way back up the leaderboard.

Birdies on holes No. 12 and No. 18 finished him out with a score of 34 on the back nine, putting him at five-under for the tournament. That puts him in a tie with Marc Leishman for second place heading into the weekend. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it is the third straight year the 50-something has had a five-under score heading into the weekend at Augusta:

After his round, Couples said that he was surprised to be playing this well. Via the PGA Tour's official Twitter feed:

At the other end of the age spectrum is Tianlang Guan, who undoubtedly carries the best story in recent golf memory going into the weekend. The 14-year-old Chinese sensation carded a three-over 75 on Friday, putting him at four-over overall. More importantly, Guan's score was good enough to make the cut, making him the youngest in Masters history to ever play the weekend.

It quite nearly didn't happen. 

Guan was assessed a one-stroke penalty by official John Paramor on the 17th hole for slow play, which, at the time, put his final score right on the cut line at four over. According to an ESPN report, Paramor warned Guan initially on the 10th green and then nudged him along two other times before assessing the penalty.

Though a slow-play penalty exists in the PGA Tour rulebook, it is rarely enforced. Guan's loss of a stroke was the first time a penalty had been issued since a penalty was levied against Glen Day in 1995. 

With that one-stroke penalty seemingly putting Guan at risk of missing the weekend, Parmor's decision drew the wrath of a bevy of golf commentators. Golf Channel's Jason Sobel was especially frustrated about singling out Guan:

Even rapper Lil' Wayne could not help but weigh in:

Ever gracious during his first two days of triumph, Guan took the high road when asked about the decision. 

"I respect the decision," Guan said to ESPN (h/t USA Today). "If I can make (the cut) I would be really happy for it, but if I didn't make it, it's still a great week."

Also facing his fair share of disappointment despite making the cut was Phil Mickelson. Lefty carded a one-under score of 71 on Thursday and seemed to be putting himself in position to capture another green jacket, but faltered heavily in the second round.

After navigating his way through and up-and-down front nine holes, Mickelson's game just fell off the rails. He carded a bogey on the 10th, doubled the 12th and had two other bogeys to finish with an overall score of 76 for the day. His tournament isn't necessarily over at three over, but Mickelson will need to find some consistency to have even a remote chance of making a comeback.

That doesn't seem to be a problem for Rory McIlroy, who has seemingly become a forgotten man with all the hoopla elsewhere. McIlroy bogeyed holes No. 1 and No. 3, but played the rest of his round four-under to finish with a score of 70. 

Big names, bright lights and a teenager. Just the way everyone expected at the 2013 Masters. 

Highlights

Here is a look at one of the many ways Tianlang Guan has set the bar even higher for 14 year olds. Left with a difficult two-putt, Guan navigates the curve and sets himself up with an easy tap-in for par on No. 16:

Though he wound up missing the putt, here is a look at Guan's fantastic tee shot on No. 12—a hole that had vexed many all day:

And since he's the man on everyone's mind, let's just make it a trifecta of Guan highlights while we're at it:

Meanwhile, Tiger had his short stick working all day long. Here is a look at a few of his best putts of the day, both of which came early in his round:

Outside of Woods and Guan, the shot of the day belonged to Robert Garrigus. Though he failed to make a birdie all day, Garrigus saved himself by scoring two eagles on par fives. This particular one, chipping from way off the green, sent the Augusta crowd into a tizzy:

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