Patrick Reed has slipped the field, but such is the quality of the names in the chasing pack — including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson — that hopes remain high that all the hype of this being an all-time classic Masters will be justified.
European Ryder Cup fans know all about Reed's tenacity and will be concerned that this great team player will be difficult to see off in the individual arena after his startling second-round 66 which took him to nine-under and into a two-shot lead over the Australian Marc Leishman.
The 27-year-old famously held his finger to his lips and told the galleries to "shush" in the heat of the Gleneagles match in 2014 and here he has threatened to mute the superstar roars.
The young, belligerent Texan has a chequered history, with whispers of impropriety in his college days, but there can be no doubting his candidature. Reed's credentials were written all over a scorecard featuring nine birdies on a day when Augusta National bared its teeth. Leishman, the 2015 Open runner-up, was the only rival able to keep pace with his 67.
Yet these are early days and the thought of Europe's young four-time major champion, McIlroy, taking on America's young three-time major champion, Spieth, is too delicious a thought to avoid.
They are in a tie for fourth on four-under, one behind Henrik Stenson, the Swede who affords this leaderboard yet more lustre. The world No1 and No2, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, are one further back on three-under, while on two-under sit Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and two-time champion Bubba Watson. As Rose said after his 70, "wow, there are big names all over that scoreboard".
Tiger Woods plays off the tee at the ninth hole at Augusta National. Photo / Getty Images
Tiger Woods is not one of these, but he did make the cut after a 75. On four-over, it will be a miracle if the 42-year-old wins, but then as he said earlier in the week, "I am a walking miracle" and golf should simply to be happy to have him on show on a major weekend after his remarkable comeback from his crippling back problems.
Of McIlroy and Spieth, the former obviously has the right to be the more content. The Ulsterman, seeking to become just the sixth player to complete the career grand slam, fired a 71 with a back-nine 34.
"I was one over for the front nine so to shoot two under on the back nine, I would have taken that on the 10th tee," McIlroy said. "But the way I played I hit some good shots and gave myself putts for birdies. It felt like I left a couple out there on 17 and 18 so I could have shot something in the 60s, but overall, I'm pretty pleased with how I played."
Of course, McIlroy is painfully aware how quickly this revered course can taketh away having earlier been so generous and he will have understood Spieth's predicament as well as eyeing Reed with intent. Better than anyone, Spieth sums up the duplicitous nature of this unique challenge.
After 17 holes of his first round, the 2015 champion — who famously blew it a year later when five clear with nine remaining — was on seven-under and in apparent cruise-control, having reeled off five birdies in succession. And how did his next three holes pan out? Bogey, double bogey, bogey.
After his five on the 18th the previous evening, Spieth looked nervous from the off, slicing his drive off the par-four first into the trees and making a six as a result. On the par-five second, he three-putted for another six and was seemingly in a spiral. Yet Spieth calmed himself and played the next 16 holes in two-under for a 74.
"I got a little brain-dead to start but to still be in the tournament after two rounds, would I have taken being in this position three or four weeks ago? Absolutely," Spieth said. "The wheels could have come off but I've taken a lot of punches on this course and I told Michael [Greller, his caddie] that I'm good for a double bogey or some bogeys here, so let's make these the only ones. It was a nice rebound on the back nine."
For England, Rose made six birdies which negated the four bogeys and will still be confident of going one better than 12 months ago.
The big loser of this second day was Phil Mickelson who fired a 79 to topple back to five-over. After his first title in five years at last month's WGC-Mexico, the 47-year-old had hopes of becoming the Masters' oldest ever champion.
And when Mickelson moved to three-under with a birdie on the second, the galleries sensed history beckoned. Alas, it was to go badly awry for the three-time champion, as he took a triple-bogey on the ninth and a double-bogey on the 12th.
At least Mickelson made the cut, which was more than defending champion Sergio Garcia could boast. After his record-breaking 13 on the 15th in the first round, the Spaniard slumped to a 78 to finish on 15-over, with only two behind in the 87-man field.
