Fortitude reaps rewards for impressive Immelman

AS Tiger Woods struggled to shift out of first, South Africa's Trevor Immelman engaged top gear at the Masters yesterday while two-time champion Phil Mickelson and a brace of British contenders, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, gave hot pursuit around Augusta.

Appreciative of the chance to play some wonderful golf after the career jolt of having a tumour removed from his diaphragm, the 28-year-old produced an impressively even-keeled performance to set the pace at the halfway mark in the Masters. Birdies at the fourth, seventh, 11th, 17th and 18th, five of the hardest holes on a relentlessly demanding course, enabled Immelman to occupy pole position.

Signing for 68 and 136, eight under, Immelman was thrilled to play so well after a winter of health problems. The South African had a tumour the size of a golf ball removed at the end of last year and now boasts a six-inch scar on his back. Fortunately, the growth turned out to be benign. Even so, the experience came as a shock to a previously carefree young man. "You kind of go from feeling bullet-proof," he recalled, "to lying in a hospital bed wondering if things are going to go your way."

Immelman did not go so far as to say he looks at life in a different way, but he appreciated firing 68 in the Masters for the second day running. The South African added: "It definitely gives you perspective. I went from winning a tournament to waiting for the results on a tumour. It made me realise golf isn't my whole life, but I have lot of passion for the game."

With Woods failing to capitalise on a birdie at the opening hole – he dropped shots at the second and the sixth – the hype surrounding the Grand Slam already seemed grossly inflated. That said, you underestimate the world No1 at your peril. Woods left the door ajar and contenders from both sides of the Atlantic were pouring through. Mickelson covered the back nine in 33 for 68 and 139, five under.

Poulter, 69 for the same 139 mark, is also on five under. The Englishman produced a thrilling inward half of 33 thanks to birdies at the 12th,13th and 16th. After acing the par 3 on Thursday, Poulter has played this teasing short hole twice in just three blows.

"To do that was pretty nice," he reflected. "It's looking like my favourite par 3. I scored better than Thursday's round, but that was thanks to a couple of key up and downs which kept it going. I'd take two more rounds like that. This is the best position I've been in after 36 holes of any major."

With Steve Flesch, the PGA Tour veteran, completing 67 for 139 and former Players Champion Stephen Ames posting 70 for 140, Mickelson added: "There are some fine players in front of me and some terrific ones behind. It's going to be a great weekend."

Casey, who can look back on a couple of top-ten finishes in three previous Masters visits, broke 70 for the fourth time here and jumped onto the first page of the leaderboard. A year ago, the Englishman was burdened by an opening 79 and still clambered up to tenth spot. This time he has added 69 to an opening 71 and is handily placed. "I am extremely happy with four under," he said. "Eight under is amazing and it's going to knock a few guys out due to the ten-shot rule."

Immelman has come a long way since bravado got the better of him as an aspiring member of the unpaid ranks in the final of the Amateur Championship. Playing against Scotland's Craig Watson at Royal St George's in 1997, the teenage South African was ahead at lunch and came in to the press tent to use a telephone to ring home. His sign-off, that he would call back after he had won, was a young man's folly. Watson went on to win 3&2.

Lee Westwood is still within touching range after 73 for 142, but would have been in the thick of things had he not ran up a double-bogey 7 after visiting the water twice on the 13th.

Terrific on Thursday, Justin Rose tends to find life more fraught on Fridays at the Masters. He was out in 38 and slipped back to two under. Playing in the second-last group when conditions were breezier, Woods feels the sound of silence is now more prevalent at Augusta than the sweeping roars which used to echo around the pine trees like a puck on an ice rink. Not that Tiger was doing much for the decibel level. He was one over after ten holes.

On a still morning where the cloud cover was occasionally broken by shafts of sunlight, Augusta was as hushed as any library. Among those out early, Snedeker, 27, who won nearly $3million on the PGA Tour last year was the first to make an impact. This is his first Masters as a professional and the manner in which he raced to the turn in 33 – tossing off birdies at the second, sixth and seventh holes. Snedeker finished on 68 for 137, seven under.

Some of the old codgers were also showing they can still knock it round. Ian Woosnam carded 71 for 146, two-over-par, and was sure to play all four rounds. The only Welshman to win the Masters, the former Ryder Cup captain was striking the ball better after a friend gave him a simple tip.

"Someone said to get my weight to my right side a little bit more and that's made a big difference to me," he said. "Yeah, just being a little bit more patient. Played a little bit more to the middle of the greens and I have to say, I holed a couple of nice little putts. I've played pretty steady over the last couple of days.

"You have to get it in the right spot on the greens here and the Europeans got it in the right spots on the greens for a few years, didn't they? There's a lot of imagination required around here. You've got to play it to the right, you've got to cut it against the wind, you've got to draw it against the wind, you've got to do all sorts with it."

With Casey, Poulter and Westwood all in challenging positions, Woosnam sees no reason why another Briton can't follow himself, Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo into the champions' locker room here. "Padraig winning the Open was a step in the right direction," reasoned Casey, "but if someone does it this year, it could be a situation like the late Eighties and early Nineties where British players were putting green jackets on each other.

Second round scores

Early completed totals after two rounds at The Masters, Augusta National, Georgia. USA unless stated, par 72:

136

Trevor Immelman (SA) 68 68

137

Brandt Snedeker 69 68

139

Phil Mickelson 71 68

Steve Flesch 72 67

Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 69

140

Paul Casey (Eng) 71 69

Stephen Ames (Can) 70 70

141

Stewart Cink 72 69

142

Retief Goosen (SA) 71 71

Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 73

143

Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 71

J.B. Holmes 73 70

Jim Furyk 70 73

Sean O'Hair 72 71

144

Andres Romero (Arg) 72 72

145

Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 70

Bubba Watson 74 71

Richard Sterne (SA) 73 72

Brian Bateman 69 76

146

Adam Scott (Aus) 75 71

Boo Weekley 72 74

Ian Woosnam (Wal) 75 71

Johnson Wagner 72 74

147

Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 77 70

KJ Choi (Kor) 72 75

David Toms 73 74

Todd Hamilton 74 73

Heath Slocum 71 76

Sandy Lyle (Sco) 72 75

148

Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 75 73

Sergio Garcia (Spa) 76 72

Ernie Els (SA) 74 74

Brett Wetterich 73 75

149

Hunter Mahan 77 72

Mark O'Meara 71 78

Craig Stadler 77 72

Jonathan Byrd 75 74

150

Steve Stricker 73 77

Daniel Chopra (Swe) 72 78

John Rollins 77 73

Shaun Micheel 76 74

Tom Watson 75 75

Ben Curtis 75 75

Camilo Villegas (Col) 73 77

Trip Kuehne 78 72

151

Bernhard Langer (Ger) 74 77

John Senden (Aus) 80 71

152

Woody Austin 79 73

Richard Green (Aus) 77 75

Tim Clark (SA) 77 75

Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 81

Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 79 73

153

Mark Calcavecchia 73 80

Soren Hansen (Den) 75 78

D. J. Trahan 76 77

154

Ray Floyd 80 74

156

Drew Weaver 76 80

158

Larry Mize 77 81

160

Fuzzy Zoeller 81 79

161

Gary Player (SA) 83 78