Defending champion Rory McIlroy put on a clinic in the first two rounds of the Masters, as those who made the cut prepare for the final stretch of play.
It was cut day in Augusta and the magic of the Masters already began to loom over the course.
After finally breaking through and capturing the title last year, Rory McIlroy was nearly automatic through 36 holes. Looking for back-to-back green jackets, he tallied a score of 92 or 12-under-par.
That set McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard, with a six-shot lead over Sam Burns and Patrick Reed. Not only was McIlroy's effort impressive, it is historic. It is the first time in the long history of the Masters that someone held that great of a lead through 36 holes.
Outside of the strong start from McIlroy, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry went three-under on Friday to end tied for 4th. Rose went into a playoff last year with McIlroy and has set himself up for another potential showdown.
The best rounds of Friday belonged to Tommy Fleetwood, who is tied at 4th alongside Rose and Lowry after shaving four strokes off his day one total, and Patrick Cantlay, who blazed back from a five-over debut to close at even-par.
Hitting on some notable participants, two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had a solid start on day one going two-under-par but eventually closed at an even 104 after an up-and-down Round 2. He has never finished outside the top 20 in his career at Augusta National.
Swedish star Ludvig Aberg was the opposite of Scheffler, as the young sensation entered Friday at +2 before rallying to also finish even. He is making only his third appearance in Augusta and placed no worse than 7th in both of his previous trips.
The cut line was not as kind to everyone, however. Popular pick Bryson DeChambeau dug himself a hole in the opening round before clawing back in the next 18. Entering the final hole of the day, DeChambeau sat within the cut but triple bogeyed to fall all the way out at +6 and miss advancing to Saturday.
Fresh off a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month, Akshay Bhatia looked to turn that momentum into Masters success. Sitting at one-over-par after Thursday, he was still very much alive. But round two proved to be disastrous, as a +5 card sent Bhatia home early.
Although McIlroy has put on a show in pursuit of the first consecutive wins since Tiger Woods nearly 25 years ago, there's still 36 holes to determine who will be the next to join the elite company of Masters champions - or renew their membership with another green jacket. Ironically, his victory last year showed that anything is possible on the course at Augusta National.