Kim was coming off a bogey on the par-4 14th when his mood went south. The South Korean — the 2017 Players Championship winner — played his second shot at the 14th to just off the back of the green, then elected to use his putter from there for his third. He rolled the ball within 5 feet, then didn't have enough speed on the par attempt and watched it lip out.
Then came the 15th, when his chip went past the hole. He slammed the putter not long afterward.
"Just frustration, like 14, 15 chip," Kim said. "That's not on purpose, but it was broken, yeah."
Kim used the wood again on the par-3 16th, narrowly missing a birdie opportunity and making another par. He stayed with it the rest of the way, choosing it over a sand wedge — which some players, without a putter, may prefer.
"I think sand wedge (is) harder and hard to ... control," Kim said, noting that's especially the case on the fast greens of Augusta National.
He made the Masters cut for the fourth time in five appearances. And Kim wasn't the only player dealing with a little anger during the second round.
Jordan Spieth hit what he thought was a good tee shot at the par-3 12th, only to see it hit the lip of a bunker and fall back into what he described as a rake print. A bad putt followed, leading to Spieth's lone bogey of the day.
He tossed the ball into Rae's Creek after that hole. He wasn't upset with the ball, but it had to go.
"There's no fans there, a kid to throw it to or anything like that," Spieth said. "There's no one there. I don't want to look at that golf ball anymore, so it goes into the water and then I go to another ball."
Kim didn't have that luxury with the putter. And after a few questions following the round, he'd decided that was enough.
"I don't want to answer any more. Sorry," he said.
Rose still leads
Englishman Justin Rose is clinging to the lead at 7-under heading into the final two rounds at the Masters — but just barely.
What had been a four-shot lead after the opening round was shaved to just one at the midway point of the tournament, after Rose shot even-par 72, then watched as little-known Will Zalatoris and lefty Brian Harman shot 68 and 69, respectively, to close the gap. And they weren't the only ones to take advantage of the softer conditions under overcast skies at Augusta National. The average score for the field on Day 2 was more than two strokes lower.
Spieth, the 2015 Masters winner, and Marc Leishman were another shot back at 139, with Justin Thomas clawing his way into the six-pack of players at 140 after a 67.
