Woodland slumps in second round

Gary Woodland knows what it feels like when he's having one of those grind-it-out rounds.

"It's when I don't drive the ball well," Woodland said Friday. "It didn't feel like that today, because I drove the ball well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities, but unfortunately I just didn't execute."

A day after blistering the back nine en route to an opening-round 69, Woodland couldn't recapture the magic and slipped to 1-over 73 in the second round of the Masters Tournament.

The up-and-down round left Woodland at 2-under 142, tied for 20th.

His driver was on target most of the day, but the rest of his game was so inconsistent that it left the Topeka, Kan., native frustrated.

"The way I drove the golf ball, I don't think 5-, 6- or 7-under was out of reach at all," Woodland said. "I had middle irons in to all the par-5s, and I couldn't have missed too many fairways. I have pitching wedge into a hole and make double and sand wedge into a hole and make bogey. You've got to think you make birdie on one of those, so that's giving away four shots right there. I gave two away on par-5s. I gave away six or seven shots today pretty easily.

"I let that one get away from me. I had opportunities to play well and just didn't do it."

Unlike Thursday's opening round, Woodland never could put together a stretch where he got hot. After making four birdies at the close of his first round, Woodland carded only four birdies during his entire round Friday, never making consecutive ones.

Every time it seemed Woodland might get hot, he immediately did something to cool off.

He followed a two-putt from the front fringe on the par-3 sixth by making double bogey from 139 yards out on No. 7. An approach to three feet for birdie on No. 10 was followed by his second consecutive drive into the left pines on No. 11.

When he salvaged par there, he dumped an 8-iron off the No. 12 tee into Rae's Creek that led to a double bogey. Even at that, the double would have been worse had Woodland not chipped in from the fringe with a lob wedge after putting his third shot into the back-left bunker.

"I wanted to attack; I wanted to shoot a couple under par," Woodland said. "I thought if I got to at least five, I would be in pretty good position going into the weekend. And like I said, I drove the ball good enough to shoot 5-under. But I had bad swings all day."

Woodland still had a chance to get his round under par after he found the green on the par-5 15th with his second shot, leaving him about 25 feet for eagle. His attempt skidded by, but he made birdie and followed it with a routine par on No. 16 before blasting a perfect drive on No. 17 that left him 110 yards from the back-left pin placement.

Woodland hit a sand wedge into the gallery, however, and couldn't get up and down for par, falling back to 2-under for the tournament.

He hit his approach on No. 18 to about three feet above the hole but missed the downhill putt for birdie -- a finish that summarized his round.

The good news for Woodland is that his struggles didn't lead to a blow-up round that cost him a shot at the weekend.

"Unfortunately, you get on the wrong side of some holes, it can cost you," said Woodland, who has now made the cut in two of his three major appearances. "I did that on the last. On 17, you can go long; you just can't go 20 yards long. You hit it in the wrong spots, you can make a double real fast."