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AUGUSTA, Ga. - Arnold Palmer said goodbye to the Masters on Friday. Jack Nicklaus may have done the same.
The six-time Masters champion shot consecutive 75s to miss the cut and fretted that his short game kept him from contending. Then he sounded as if it might have been his last Masters round.
"I don't think I'm going to play again," Nicklaus said. "I don't think I'll play much golf again. I think I'm about done. ... I know by the way I played the last two days, if I had any kind of short game or touch at all, I'd be in contention. At least I didn't play horribly."
Nicklaus, who has played in 44 Masters, said the determining factor will be how he is playing. Asked what the Masters would be like without Palmer and himself, Nicklaus said, "I think you'll find that happening very shortly."
TIGER ROARS: For all the talk about the problems with his game, Tiger Woods looked pretty good Friday. He completed his first round with a birdie to shoot 75. Then he added 69 in the second round to finish 36 holes at even par, six back of leader Justin Rose.
"I'm still here," said Woods, a three-time champion. "I played really well. Made a few, missed a few. Overall it went well."
Woods birdied both of the back nine par 5s, then rolled in a 40-footer for birdie at the par-3 16th.
"Thursday was a bit of a difficult day. I hung in there," he said. "I knew I had to make some birdies (Friday). You have to take baby steps, slow improvement. I got back to even (par), and that's viable."
FUMING: Jay Haas may have let the rules officials get to him. Standing in the fairway at the par-5 13th, he asked for a ruling when his ball appeared to be sitting in a rut that looked like a tire track. He asked three different officials, none of whom granted him relief.
Haas parred the hole but was visibly upset on the green. He then made double bogey at the 14th and shot 75 to drop to a tie for 14th.
"I think on our tour (PGA) I would have gotten relief," Haas said. "In their judgment, they didn't see any damage. I got a little worked up. On 14, I didn't get it in the spot I wanted (on the green). I didn't play as badly as my score indicated."
LURKING ERNIE: He is only a few shots back, but Ernie Els can't help but feel he could be a lot closer - or even leading. After an opening 70, Els shot par 72 Friday, making four birdies and four bogeys.
"I'm not getting the big shots," said Els, who tied for sixth last year. "I'm not making the long putts. I'm not getting anything going. I've just been plugging away. I'm hitting it nicely. I'm not sure what's missing there."
NOT-SO-GREAT SCOTT: Much of the pretournament spotlight focused on Australia's Adam Scott, and for good reason. He was coming off an impressive victory at the Players Championship. But Scott shot an opening-round 80 and could not recover, shooting 73 Friday to miss the cut.
"I just think I let (Thursday) get away from me," said Scott, who made nine bogeys during his opening round. "I just couldn't quite get comfortable. (Friday) was a lot better but I have plenty to work on. ... I'm disappointed but you have to enjoy this week no matter what."
NO MORE MAGIC: A year after shooting one of the best final rounds in Masters history, Len Mattiace could not find the same success this year. Mattiace shot 76-75 to miss the cut.
"It's disappointing not to play well," he said. "I need to hit the ball better."
Mattiace injured both knees in an offseason skiing accident that required surgery, and he did not return to the PGA Tour until last month. A year ago, he shot a final-round 65 to tie with Mike Weir before losing in a playoff.
"It was a special event last year," he said. "That was the past. I've got challenges ahead of me."
AROUND AUGUSTA: Weir's opening-round 79 was the highest for a defending champion in Masters history. Despite shooting 70, he missed the cut by one stroke. ... Two amateurs made the cut at 148, U.S. Amateur runnerup Casey Wittenberg and U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Brandt Snedeker. ... Thursday's first-round scoring average of 75.172 was the highest for any round on the PGA Tour this year. The previous high was the final round at the BellSouth Classic, 74.141.