2013 Masters Leaderboard: Recapping All the Action from Day 2

Friday's second-round action at the 2013 Masters is in the books, and for the first time in its 77-year history at Augusta, a 14-year-old will be joining the party on the final two days of play. 

Chinese youngster Tianlang Guan has captured the attention of both golfers on the course and fans everywhere with his determined pace through two rounds of play, finishing at four-over and sneaking in above the cut line despite getting penalized on No. 17 for slow play. 

Guan is clearly the story of the tournament so far, but he'll have some work to do to catch up to tournament leader Jason Day, the low-round man on Friday with a four-under 68—an impressive mark considering the wind that the golfers were dealing with all day. 

Following Day atop the leaderboard is 53-year-old Fred Couples and Round 1 leader Marc Leishman, currently tied for second at five-under. Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera round out the top six before giving way to a slew of golfers sitting at three- and two-under par for the tournament. 

Among those sit Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 and 2 golfers in the world coming into this tournament. Woods is at three-under after holding a share of the lead at five-under for a few holes, while McIlroy crawled back from an extremely slow start to finish at two-under, just four shots back of the leader. 

World No. 3 Justin Rose was also among those at three-under. 

Sergio Garcia was one of the biggest free-fallers on Friday, moving down four strokes but still within striking distance of the lead at two-under. Another was Dustin Johnson, who had the highest score of the tournament at seven-under before an atrocious back nine led to a one-under finish. 

In addition to Guan, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley and Nick Watney were among those that avoided the cut with high two-round scores. 

With two rounds in the books, it's time to take a look back at all the action, and turn that look into a brief glance at what could be a thrilling two days at Augusta on Saturday and Sunday. 

*For a complete look at the leaderboard after two days at Augusta, check out PGATour.com. 

Analysis

The round truly belonged to Jason Day. 

The Australian is looking to become the first man from his country to win the Masters, and he made that quite clear with a strong round in a final pairing that included Rickie Fowler. Day made shot after shot and managed to put himself in position to finish higher than six under on the final two holes but will settle for a one-shot lead heading into Saturday morning. 

The two elder statesmen in the top 10—Furyk and Couples—continue to defy the odds during the early going. Both men played solid rounds on Friday, but it remains to be seen how the toils of Augusta will affect their chances to win a green jacket on Sunday. 

Chinese phenomenon and eighth-grader Guan made the cut with no room to spare, but not without controversy. The young man actually hit 11 straight pars over the final 11 holes but was penalized after two separate warnings by the tournament committee in the early going. 

As noted by Golf Digest on Twitter, pair mate and two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw was sick about the penalty: 

The penalty ended up making things more dicey for Guan's chances at making the cut, but the golf gods prevailed, and the youngster will be the first-ever 14-year-old to play on Saturday and Sunday at Augusta. 

Mickelson had himself a rough day. After a strong start that pushed him to the brink of contention, Mickelson bogeyed hole after hole down the stretch, hitting only 10-of-18 greens and just 8-of-14 fairways on the afternoon. Mickelson is no stranger to comebacks, but three-over is a tall task indeed. 

Woods looked like the man to beat in the early going. 

With a share of the lead heading into the final five holes, No. 15 proved to be the hole that cursed his day and ended up leaving him at three-under. Instead of a chance at a birdie putt, Woods was too good for his own good, hitting the flagstaff and dropping his ball into the water instead. 

After that, he bogeyed the hole and added another on No. 18 to finish the day three shots back. 

In a wild and furious second day of action, the field has been slimmed and will not include Webb Simpson or Graeme McDowell on Saturday or Sunday. With Day in the lead and the big guns closing, you don't want to miss anything over the weekend. 

Notable Shots

Rickie Fowler has been quite the lucky dog at the Masters so far. This view of his shot that just barely caught the cusp should tell you all you need to know:

In case you haven't seen it, check out Tiger's shot at No. 15 that turned the tables a bit on an otherwise stellar round:

Zach Johnson felt like an NBA pro on this shot, missing a putt on No. 12 that was three-quarters of the way down:

This Robert Garrigus chip and run was a thing of beauty:

*Images and GIFs courtesy of B/R social-media writer Ken Dorset. 

Day 3 Golfers to Watch

Tiger Woods

How Woods responds to a rough end to Friday's match could determine his green-jacket fate. 

Let's not forget, Tiger is 14-1 with at least a share of the lead heading into the final round of a major, while he hasn't ever been able to climb the ladder without it. 

That shot on No. 15 could motivate Woods to play better in the early going and save some of his gusto for the final few holes, or it could turn out to be the shot that ends up quantifying the whole tournament for the four-time winner. 

Either way, Woods played great through the first two rounds and provided us with enough evidence to suggest his game is back to a point where a major win is possible. Look closely at the world No. 1 on Saturday to see how he responds out of the gate. 

Angel Cabrera

When you win one Masters, you automatically have a shot to win more. The experience that comes with a green-jacket win is invaluable for a career if channeled the right way, and Cabrera had the magic working on the back nine on Friday. 

Hitting five birdies in his last 13 holes without a bogey, Cabrera had a five-birdie streak in six holes that helped him post one of the best scores of the day and wind up in a familiar position: just two strokes off the pace. 

With two great closes to his first two rounds, Cabrera can really cement his place as a contender on Saturday if he holes a few early birdies instead of waiting until the final few holes to make a mark on the field. 

Like I said—once a winner, always a winner. Cabrera will look for his second green jacket and try to prove he is back to elite form with a strong finish at Augusta. 

Fred Couples

What more can we say about Couples?

The 53-year-old is just one stroke off the pace, continues to hit the ball well all over the course and had a strong close to his day to finish off a one-under performance in tough early conditions. 

Per the usual with older golfers, though, it's going to be all about how Freddy responds to being in contention over the last two days. 

Couples has been in this position before in the last three Masters, and has three top-15 finishes to show for it. Instead of another high finish, Couples is looking to win his first green jacket in 20 years (1992 was his first) with a strong close to the final two rounds. 

Can his back, psyche and fairway game hold up?

Couples is becoming one of Augusta's favorite sons—if he wasn't already. The course brings out the best in him, but we'll see if it catapults him ahead of the rest of the field over the final two days.