Fri Apr 11 21:51:06 2008

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What they're saying at the Masters, Day Two

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Augusta, GA (Sports Network) - The weather, and Augusta National, were set to undergo changes as the weekend approached at the Masters, meaning things could only get tougher for the players.

Here's what some of them were talking about:

- TREVOR IMMELMAN, the leader at eight-under 136, on the importance of getting birdies before the weekend:

"Any time you can make a birdie in a major championship, it's like a thrill, because you've really got to hang onto it as long as you can. The course at some point is going to show its teeth and the possibility of some bad weather. So if you're playing well, you have to try and make some good scores while you can."

- TIGER WOODS, a near even-money favorite to claim his fifth Masters title, was seven shots off the lead after a windy Friday and needing a near-record comeback to win the tournament:

"Well, today was quite a grind out there with those conditions. [The wind] was blowing, swirling all over the place. We were backing off shot after shot. And it certainly was not a fast front nine. We played right exactly three hours. So a day of patience for sure."

- PHIL MICKELSON, the two-time Masters champion, who played without a bogey Friday and moved into contention with a 68:

"If there was any one key, I think that I played for par on a lot of holes and was able to make par and also scatter some birdies in there. The front nine played much easier than the back nine when the wind picked up. When the wind started swirling it was much easier to pull the right club and get the right section of the green. But the front nine I felt like we had a pretty good chance to make some birdies and I felt like I was fortunate to get a couple."

- JUSTIN ROSE, who held at least a share of the first-round Masters lead for the third time in five years, hit into the water on the 15th, made a triple- bogey, and found himself 10 shots off the second-round lead after a 78:

"A 20-second lapse in concentration. In hindsight, I should have gone for the green. But [it's] one of those things. I laid up way too close to that green, and the way they grow the grain into you, I had a bit of a tricky lie and no yardage at all. So that was hard."

- BEN CRENSHAW, the 56-year-old two-time Masters champion who missed the cut Friday, on being the last player to win at Augusta after holding the first- round lead:

"I am surprised. I can't believe it's been since 1984. That's a good while. It shows you the ups and downs of this course. It plays so difficult now. But I don't know if there's any rhyme or reason for that. I can't figure that out. I did have a good score that first day, that 67, but I can't explain that."

- IAN WOOSNAM, the 1991 Masters champion who is now a 50-year-old staple at Augusta, shot a 71 on Friday to make the cut by two shots, advancing to the weekend for the first time since 2000:

"I only played two tournaments on the Champions Tour and I think it's been great practice for me because the courses have been really difficult. So when I came here it's set me up well for today, I think."

- FRED COUPLES, who missed the cut for the first time in 24 Masters appearances, failing to snap a tie for the Augusta record he holds with Gary Player:

"It's been a long time, and it's been fun. I'm not going to make it; I'm kind of disappointed in that. But I'm really disappointed with the way I played."

- DREW WEAVER, the first American in 28 years to win the British Amateur title, one of three amateurs in the Masters field, and a junior at Virginia Tech during last year's massacre, after he went 76-80 to miss the cut:

"Obviously a major championship is physically and mentally draining and, I mean, I'm exhausted. That's the bottom line. I spent quite a long time getting ready for this and just it's kind of tough to see it come to an end, but what can you do?"

- JOHNSON WAGNER, who also played college golf at Virginia Tech and who won in Houston last week to get his Masters invite, made the cut at plus-two:

"Virginia Tech winning the ACC tournament last year right after what happened on April 16, that was maybe one of the greatest accomplishments in golf. They kind of came from nowhere, and it was great to see."

- TRIP KUEHNE, the longtime amateur star, who missed the cut in his second Masters appearance and then declared an end to his competitive career:

"I can't repeat it enough -- to have an opportunity to play the weekend in the Masters tournament as basically a working man, that was all I ever wanted in life to have that opportunity again. I thought that if I could ever make it back to this tournament and in these situations and this golf course, that I could really foster the amateur game. Because I thought I could play well here."