The Masters: Round two latest news from Augusta

Day two leaders

-4 Hoffman, Garcia, Pieters, Fowler
-2 McGirt
-1 Moore, Rahm, Couples, Rose
E Scott, Mickelson, Spieth 

Day two report

A whirlwind day at Augusta National ended with a four-way tie for the Masters lead, made up of four men seeking their first major.

Day one leader Charley Hoffman was joined by Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters and Rickie Fowler, but with many of the sport's best players within five shots, any number of players remain in with a chance to win.

On a bright, cool, breezy day in Georgia, Hoffman promised to follow up his opening 65 with another under-par round until a run of five bogeys in six holes saw him drop into a share with Garcia.

The Spaniard, who has played in every major this century, fought back from bogeys at 10 and 13 with two late birdies and it might have been three, only for his six-foot attempt at the last to slide by.

Hours later, Fowler produced a similar display in a best-of-the-day 67, as he bounced back from a disappointing bogey at the par-five 15th to birdie 16, and then miss opportunities at the final two holes.

Shortly before, Thomas Pieters had confirmed his position at four-under, thanks largely to an eagle at the 13th followed by a tap-in birdie at the 14th.

Playing in his first Masters, the Belgian had to scramble for his par at the last hole as he confirmed the promise of last September's Ryder Cup debut, in which he was the top scorer.

CHECK OUT BEN COLEY'S ROUND 3 PREVIEW HERE

Two shots adrift of the leading quartet is William McGirt, who was first out on Friday and shot a respectable 73 in difficult conditions, but it was those further back who created the promise of a fascinating third round on Saturday.

Jordan Spieth crept into contention at level-par, a birdie at the last capping a fine back-nine as he broke 70, while fellow former champion Adam Scott also got one to drop at 18 for the same 36-hole total, despite again suffering with the putter.

Fred Couples, at 57 seeking to become golf's oldest major champion, is once again in the mix at Augusta at one-under and at the other end of the spectrum so too is Jon Rahm, three back of the lead which features his compatriot Garcia.

Justin Rose endured a disappointing bogey finish to also sit three off the lead and it was a similar, albeit more unfortunate ending for Rory McIlroy, who briefly got under par but will begin round three five adrift of the leaders.

McIlroy birdied 17 to get back to level after a frustrating run on the back-nine, but his approach to the 18th hit the flag and resulted in a bogey, when birdie had appeared likely.

But the four-time major winner will know that the four players who share this lead heading into the weekend are looking to win their first, and in that lies his advantage.

Like Spieth, like Scott, like Phil Mickelson - level par after a poor finish of his own - McIlroy will expect to make inroads under what are forecast to be more favourable conditions in round three.

Round two collated scores

(USA unless stated, par 72):

140 Charley Hoffman 65 75, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 69, Rickie Fowler 73 67, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 72 68

142 William McGirt 69 73

143 Justin Rose (Eng) 71 72, Jon Rahm (Spa) 73 70, Fred Couples 73 70, Ryan Moore 74 69

144 Phil Mickelson 71 73, Adam Scott (Aus) 75 69, Jordan Spieth 75 69

145 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 73, Rory McIlroy (Nirl) 72 73, Matt Kuchar 72 73

146 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 76 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 78 68

147 Brian Stuard 77 70, Stewart Hagestad (a) 74 73, Jason Dufner 71 76, Kevin Chappell 71 76, Brooks Koepka 74 73, Brendan Steele 74 73, Bill Haas 75 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 75, Marc Leishman (Aus) 73 74, Russell Henley 71 76, Paul Casey (Eng) 72 75, Jimmy Walker 76 71, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 77

148 Steve Stricker 75 73, Pat Perez 74 74, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 77 71

149 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 76 73, Adam Hadwin (Can) 75 74, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 79 70, Justin Thomas 73 76, Andrew Sullivan (Eng) 71 78, Brandt Snedeker 75 74, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 77 72, Daniel Summerhays 74 75, Kevin Kisner 74 75, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 71 78

150 Jason Day (Aus) 74 76, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 78 72, Ross Fisher (Eng) 76 74, Branden Grace (Rsa) 76 74, Daniel Berger 77 73, J.B. Holmes 78 72, James Hahn 75 75, Curtis Luck (a) (Aus) 78 72, Larry Mize 74 76

The following players missed the Cut:

151 Chris Wood (Eng) 74 77, Zach Johnson 77 74, Danny Willett (Eng) 73 78, Billy Hurley III 75 76, Kevin Na (USA) 76 75, Jim Furyk 78 73, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 74 77, Shane Lowry (Irl) 72 79

152 Alex Noren (Swe) 74 78, Scott Piercy 73 79, Bubba Watson 74 78, Webb Simpson 75 77, Rod Pampling (Aus) 74 78, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 78 74, Russell Knox (Sco) 76 76, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 75 77, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 77 75

153 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 75 78, Vijay Singh (Fij) 78 75, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 77 76, Brad Dalke (a) 78 75, Sean O'Hair 76 77, Hudson Swafford 77 76, Patrick Reed 76 77

154 Ian Woosnam (Wal) 76 78, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 79 75, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 78 76

155 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 79 76, Mike Weir (Can) 76 79, Gary Woodland 75 80

156 Mark O'Meara 78 78, Jeung-Hun Wang (Kor) 78 78, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 75 81, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 76 80

157 Roberto Castro 79 78, Scott Gregory (a) (Eng) 82 75

158 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 80 78

159 Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 79 80

160 Sandy Lyle (Sco) 77 83

161 Toto Gana (a) (Chi) 81 80