The young Briton maintains lead for the second day, but 17 players are within six strokes of him.
By BOB HARIG
Published April 10, 2004
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Justin Rose was 8 years old, but he remembers vividly the scene at Augusta National's 11th green: Nick Faldo in the gloaming, barely able to see, his ball disappearing into the cup for a sudden-death playoff victory over Scott Hoch in 1989.
Several years later, there was Faldo again, overtaking Greg Norman with a final-round 67 to win his third Masters.
For a kid from Great Britain, hoping to be a golfer someday, those were incredible images.
"Faldo is probably my earliest memory, of him looking dumbstruck when he holed that putt on the 11th in the playoff to win," Rose said. "And obviously, that amazing round with Greg Norman. That was something I was glued to. I was at a pretty impressionable age."
He still is, actually. Rose is 23, the youngest professional in the Masters field, bidding to become the first Briton since Faldo in 1996 to win the Masters.
And he's halfway there.
Rose shot 1-under-par 71 Friday and heads into the weekend at 138, 6 under par. He leads two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal (69) of Spain and Germany's Alex Cjeka (70), who finished fourth at last year's PGA Championship, by two strokes.
Chasing Rose will be Phil Mickelson, who shot 69 to move into a fourth-place tie with South Korea's K.J. Choi (70). Davis Love III tied for the low round of the day with 67. He moved into a tie for sixth at 142, four back, with Ernie Els (72), Augusta native Charles Howell (71), 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples (69) and Chris DiMarco (73).
Lurking six shots back and tied for 14th is Tiger Woods, who rallied with three birdies on his final six holes to shoot 69 and get to 144, even par.
"It's going to play tough. It will be really tough," Woods said of today's expected conditions on the 7,290-yard course. "We saw it in the practice rounds how fast this place was getting, and then we got some rain that slowed it down. When we finished (Thursday night), it's the slowest I've ever seen the greens here. But I think they've got this little suction thing going on (under) the greens. They sucked them dry. A couple of putts, you have to watch for or you will putt it off the green."
That should make for an interesting weekend, as there are 17 players within six strokes of Rose's lead.
One of them is Mickelson, who made three birdies over the last seven holes to get within three of the lead.
"The first two rounds I was very patient ... patient to make some pars and and hit solid shots," said Mickelson, 33, who is playing in his 47th major championship as a pro but has yet to win one. He has three consecutive thirds at the Masters.
"I've learned a lot in the past few Masters," Mickelson said. "Where to hit it with certain pin placements, when to use a driver. I haven't birdied very many. But I'm not making 6s or 7s."
Olazabal, who eagled the 13th hole, knows his way around Augusta, too. The winner in 1994 and 1999, Olazabal struggled in recent years and dropped to 135th in the world ranking. In eight PGA Tour events this year, Olazabal, 38, has not finished among the top 30.
"It must be something with this place," he said. "I don't feel much different to how I felt last week. Part of the game is pretty much the same. The putting has not been all that great, except for those two or three putts that I made. ... But every time I come here, I try to do my best. I feel in a way a little bit at peace with myself."
There were 44 players who made the cut at 148, 4 over par. And there were several who missed in agonizing fashion. Defending champion Mike Weir, John Daly, 1976 champion Raymond Floyd and 1982 champion Craig Stadler all missed by one stroke after bogeying No.18.
Rose knows all about that. After finishing fourth at the 1998 British Open as an amateur, Rose, then 17, turned pro and missed 21 consecutive cuts on the PGA European Tour.
And with each failure came further probing from the famously harsh British media.
"I felt like every time I was in "contention' to make the cut, I felt like there was an incredible amount of pressure on me," said Rose, who made two birdies and a bogey Friday. "It seemed at the time that cameras would appear from the trees and suddenly, "Justin has a chance to make the cut for the first time.' And there would be all this scrutiny, if you like. That was just the way I saw it.
"When I finally did it, it was like winning a tournament. And winning four times (worldwide), obviously believing that you can win under pressure, that will help me as well."
