In the history of the Masters Tournament, only three aces have been recorded at the renowned short par-three 12th hole, known as Golden Bell. These remarkable shots were made by Claude Harmon, the 1948 champion and Butch Harmon’s father, in 1947; amateur William Hyndman in 1959; and Curtis Strange, a two-time US Open winner, in 1988. After nearly nine decades without an ace, excitement surged as two players came very close within just two days. On the previous afternoon, 18-year-old amateur Mason Howell nearly sunk his tee shot just inches from the hole. The following day, 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel struck his wedge perfectly, hitting the flagstick but the ball veered away. While Howell’s ball was close enough for an easy birdie, Schwartzel’s nearly rolled off the green, but he managed to salvage a par.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, a two-time winner of this event, began the day a daunting 12 shots behind the leader. However, he quickly closed the gap to just six shots from second place, showing determination to fight back. His day got off to a fantastic start when he executed a high fade shot into the second green from 265 yards, landing just six feet away. He converted that opportunity into an eagle, marking his second of the week at Pink Dogwood and bringing his score to -2. Scheffler had previously made an eagle on the first day and followed it with a birdie on the third hole, but today he missed a critical seven-foot putt on the next hole. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy was reminded that competition remains fierce, and any slip could be costly.
The leaderboard after 36 holes is as follows:
- -12: McIlroy
- -6: Burns, Reed
- -5: Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
- -4: Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan, Day, Young
- -3: Gotterup, Koepka, Griffin
- -2: Homa, Knapp, Schauffele, Matsuyama
- -1: Brennan, Taylor, Fitzpatrick, Morikawa
- E: Campbell, Åberg, Scheffler, English, Gerard, D Johnson, Henley, Cantlay
Several prominent players have unfortunately missed the cut, including Danny Willett, JJ Spaun, Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson, Nicolai Højgaard, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Smith, Fred Couples, José María Olazábal, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Angel Cabrera, and notably Bryson DeChambeau.
As for today’s schedule, tee times will commence at 6 PM BST. The excitement continues!
