Wayward drive to the third results in an unfortunate lost ball and leads to triple-bogey for DeChambeau, who will need to dig deep to avoid missing the halfway cut when play resumes at Augusta National.
By Keith Jackson
Last Updated: 14/11/20 1:35am
Bryson DeChambeau lost a ball at the third hole
Bryson DeChambeau is struggling to make the halfway cut at the Masters after his challenge was derailed by a lost ball and a triple-bogey seven early in his second round.
DeChambeau managed to grind out a two-under 70 despite some wayward driving on day one, and he made a good start to his second round late on Friday afternoon before his attempt to drive the green at the par-four third proved costly.
With confidence high after a birdie at the second, the pre-tournament favourite attacked the 350-yard third with driver from the tee, but he pulled it left of the target and his ball disappeared into a boggy area in the first cut, not far from the green.
DeChambeau is battling to make the halfway cut
Realising his ball was likely to be plugged in the soft ground, DeChambeau and playing partners Jon Rahm and Louis Oosthuizen conducted an extensive search which proved unsuccessful within the three-minute time allocation.
His ball was later found, but not in time for him to have to be carted back to the tee, from where he hit another towering drive on a similar line, over-hit his pitch and eventually holed out for a seven.
“I know they found it afterwards, but we must have been close,” said Rahm, who will have a five-foot putt for birdie on the 13th that would get him into a tie for the lead on nine under when the second round resumes on Saturday morning.
“I mean, when you have Bryson hitting it as hard as he hits it, it’s kind of hooking with not much spin into a soft area, we were all confident it was pretty buried and it was going to be hard to find.
“It’s unfortunate that the rules of golf don’t let you kind of figure out it’s somewhere there and keep playing, and he had to re‑tee, and I know that affected him a little bit because he didn’t play his best golf after that.
“But he’s a fighter and he’s showing it. It was just unfortunate.”
DeChambeau was taken back to the tee after failing to find his ball in time
DeChambeau’s mood soured further when he bogeyed the next two holes, although he did birdie the sixth and eighth either side of another bogey at seven before beginning the back-nine with a scrappy five at the 10th.
He did pull one back at the short 12th, and he was lucky to avoid Rae’s Creek with his second to the par-five 13th following a monster 380-yard drive, and his first shot on Saturday will be a 17-foot putt for eagle.
With just three pars on his card after 12 completed holes, DeChambeau is one over for the Masters and currently one shot outside the projected cut line.
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