AUGUSTA, Georgia — Dustin Johnson grabbed a two-stroke lead in Friday's second round of the 77th Masters while world No. 1 Tiger Woods opened with a par on a difficult day for scoring at Augusta National. Johnson opened with a five-under par 67, the best round of his career at Augusta National, then caught fire on day two after bogeys on the first and third holes. The 28-year-old American birdied the par-3 fourth, added back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th and followed with a birdie at the par-5 13th to reach seven-under par for the tournament. Moments later, Australia's Marc Leishman, who had been level with Johnson for the lead, took a bogey at the fourth and fell back to five-under in second place. Leishman is trying to become the first Australian to win the Masters. Sergio Garcia, who had been tied with Leishman, dropped back after making three bogeys over the first 11 holes — quite a change from the previous day, when he had his first bogey-free round at Augusta since 2002 on his way to a 6-under 66. Johnson seeks his first major title. He shared second behind Darren Clarke in the 2011 British Open and was in the hunt at the 2010 PGA Championship before a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker ended his hopes. Still on the course at four-under were Fred Couples with five holes to play, Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler and South African Charl Schwartzel. Another stroke back on three-under were England's Justin Rose and Americans Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar. Chinese 14-year-old schoolboy Guan Tianlang, the youngest player in Masters history, was two-over for the day and three-over for the tournament after 16 holes and likely to be the only amateur player to make the cut. On Thursday, Guan opened with a 73 to stand as the low amateur and the only one with a solid chance to make the cut. Bogeys at the par-3 fourth and par-4 seventh Friday dropped Guan to three-over for the tournament. Guan showed poise under pressure in an impressive debut round over the famed course and looks to be the only amateur in position to make the cut. A new expanded cut adopted this year will see the top 50 and level plus anyone else within 10 strokes of the lead reach the weekend. It previously had been the low 44 and level plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Johnson's booming power and ability to hit high, right-to-left shots, would seem to make him a natural to contend at Augusta. But this is the one major where he's never been much of a factor, his best finish in three previous appearances a tie for 30th. He missed last year's Masters after injuring his back lifting a jet ski. “I've played OK here in the past, just not great,” Johnson said. “It feels good. I've been working hard on the game the last month or so.” A native of Columbia, South Caroline, just an hour east of Augusta, he's always considered the Masters his favorite tournament. So, why has it been a bit of a struggle in other years? “This is one of those courses, the more you play it, the more you get to know it,” Johnson said. “When you get in trouble, you kind of know where you need to hit it so you actually have a chance to get up-and-down, or you know what side of the fairway to miss it on at certain flags. Every time you play here, you learn something about the golf course.” Garcia has always had more of a love-hate relationship with this place, and his mood was taking a turn for the worse when he struggled Friday to follow up his brilliant opening round. He bogeyed the 350-yard third hole — the shortest par-4 on the course, dropped another stroke at the par-3 fourth and slipped again with his third bogey of the round at the 11th. In the process, he dropped three strokes behind Johnson and Leishman, an Australian who teed off right around lunchtime and kept up his solid play with three straight pars. — Agencies
