Capelle On Golf

2008 Masters Coverage - thru 4/15

At last year’s U.S. Open Angel Cabrera took out 19 players with a single birdie on the final hole of his second round, including Phil Mickelson. With the field as closely bunched as it is this year’s Masters, the 10 stroke rule could once again lay the hammer down on a sizeable group of players.

Trevor Immelman has just raised (or lowered) the bar to -8 with his second round of 68, for the moment opening up a three shot lead. Now the number +2 is looming large in the minds of the players who are around the bubble.

Currently (1:37pm, Eastern) there are 54 players at +3 or better. 43 are at +2 or better. It looks like the cut line is going to fall in the range of +2 to +3. Tiger Woods is not normally concerned with making the cut. Still, he might be feeling a bit of pressure knowing that he’ll have to likely shoot 74 or better to play on the weekend on a course that he has compared to a U.S. Open style layout. Not only does he have to survive, but he’s got to start heading into read numbers thanks to Immelman, who has shown that the course can be had. Finally, he’ll be playing late in the day when the conditions are not ideal for scoring.

Update at 3:17pm Eastern
57 players are at +4 or better
42 players are at + 3 or better

The low 44 and ties make the cut
All players within 10 shots of the leader make the cut as well, which can increase the number of players for the weekend if the field is tightly bunched after 36 holes.

Tiger Woods is even after 4 holes. This looks like his most important round of the year. He’s got to make the cut, which shouldn’t be a problem (but you never know), and make a move up the leaderboard on a day that’s been somewhat conducive to good scoring. And he’s got that self-imposed Grand Slam pressure to deal with – this being the first year that he’s ever talked about winning it.

PS - They just mentioned on the Golf Channel that the winds are going to be up to 15-20 MPH this afternoon, which isn’t going to make Woods’ job any easier.