Quiros achieves his goal

Alvaro Quiros gave one of the more eye-opening comments from players after an opening-round 65 Thursday that left him tied for the lead in the 2011 Masters Tournament.

Quiros said his aim was to make the cut and "it would be stupid" to think about shooting 65 again.

Quiros was right on target Friday.

The big hitter shot 1-over par 73 to make his first Masters cut in three attempts. Quiros will go into the weekend at 6-under, tied for fifth place, four shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.

One reason the 28-year-old Quiros is thrilled to make the cut is that in his previous four Masters rounds, leading up to Thursday, he had not shot a score lower than 75. He had also missed the cut in six of his eight career majors.

Quiros has left his Master struggles in the past, beating that 75 mark on back-to-back days, even though he shot eight strokes higher on Friday from his dazzling Thursday effort.

"To be honest, the only difference (Friday from Thursday) was the driver, my tee shots," said Quiros. "Nearly every single time I miss the driver from the tee, I paid a toll. I made bogeys or (was left) without chances to hit on in two on the par 5s."

Quiros hit nine of 14 fairways.

A bad tee shot at No. 12, which found a back bunker on the par-3, cost Quiros a double-bogey five.

Quiros finished with three birdies, missing an opportunity at No. 17 to add another birdie when his putter let him down.

Quiros' caddie is Gareth Bryn Lord, who made his debut with the Spaniard on Thursday. Lord said that obviously he doesn't know Quiros' personality, but sleeping on the lead of a major wasn't the problem.

"It's my first week with him, so I don't really know how he reacts to stuff," said Lord, who converts yards to meters for Quiros during the round. "It was one of those days that just come up where he didn't play as well. But I don't think it was because he was leading. It's just he didn't play as well.

"At No. 12, I was like come on, just keep going. That happens. He tried a little 8-iron and it was long. You are staring five in the face."

Quiros has the reputation of getting angry on the course when things aren't going his way. He said that he is working on staying calm and that if his driver is on target, he can stay on the leaderboard.

"It is the only thing I'm keeping is my patience," Quiros said, smiling. "It helps to know making par here you aren't going to be too far from making a good score. It helps to stay positive."

As golfers have preached all week long, it helps to be a big hitter at Augusta National.

"The weekend will depend on my driving," Quiros said. "If I hit it well from the tee, I think we have a chance to shoot low, even missing putts."

Reach Lance Lahnert at lance.lahnert@amarillo.com.