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DiMarco leads by two from Woods
Tiger Woods
birdied the last two holes in Friday's second round for a six-under
66 and a share of second place with Phil Mickelson behind the surprising
Chris DiMarco at The Masters.
Woods, in search
of his third victory in as many starts and fourth straight win in
a major championship, has posted the same two scores, 70-66, as
he had through 36 holes of the 1997 Masters, an event he went on
to win by a record 12 strokes.
But instead
of the three-shot lead he had heading into the weekend in '97, Woods
finds himself two off the pace at eight-under- par 136 with Mickelson,
who saved par from 10 feet at the last for a three-under 69 on Friday.
They are both
chasing DiMarco, a Masters rookie who retained his position atop
the leaderboard with a second-round 69. His two-day total of 10-under
134 set a new 36-hole record for a player making his first appearance
at Augusta National, eclipsing the 135 total of Mark Lye from 1984.
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Chris
Dimarco after making a long par putt on the 18th. Allsport.
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DiMarco is looking
to become the first first-timer to win the green jacket since Fuzzy
Zoeller achieved the feat in 1979.
David Duval
and Japan's Toshi Izawa, who matched Woods for low round of the
day with 66s, share fourth place at seven-under 137 with two-time
U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen (71), Steve Stricker (71) and Argentina's
Angel Cabrera (71).
Mark Calcavecchia,
who also turned in a 66 Friday, finished at six-under with 1994
and '99 Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal (68) and Kirk Triplett
(70).
Northern Ireland's
Darren Clarke (67) and 2000 runner-up Ernie Els (68) finished two
rounds at five-under, one shot ahead of defending champion Vijay
Singh (71), Jim Furyk (71) and Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez (72).
A total of
47 players made the cut, which fell at one-over 145.
Germany's Bernhard
Langer survived his 18th consecutive Masters cut on Friday, the
longest streak of any active player. The 1985 and '93 Masters winner
stands at two-under 142 at the halfway point.
Fred Couples
has now qualified for weekend play in each of his 17 appearances.
The 1992 champion posted rounds of 74-71 to make the cut by the
skin of his teeth.
Greg Norman,
a three-time Masters runner-up, struggled to a 10- over 82 in round
two, his worst score in 74 rounds at Augusta National. He will miss
the cut for the fifth time in his 21 appearances.
Six-time Masters
champion Jack Nicklaus missed the cut at plus- four, while Arnold
Palmer, who captured four green jackets, missed his 18th straight
cut, finishing with a two-day total of 14-over 158.
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