Justin Rose salvages shaky start with second-round 72 to stay in front at Masters

A calm and composed Justin Rose posted an even-par 72 in the second round to maintain his lead at the halfway stage of the Masters on Friday.

Rose opened with four bogeys in the first seven holes to squander the lead but rallied with birdies at the 13th, 14th, and 16th to finish his second-round campaign at an even-par score.

Even so, his even-par 72 was good enough for a one-shot lead going into a weekend of the prestigious Masters' event.

"I didn't quite appreciate the scoring was going to be quite so good today," he said.

Will Zalatoris (68) and Brian Harman (69) shared the second spot at 138, while the Australian Marc Leishman (67) and pre-tournament favorite Justin Thomas (68) lie tied-4th after the end of day two at the Augusta National.

The cut was declared at three-over 147.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson bogeyed three of his final four holes Friday and missed the cut by two shots.

"Obviously, I wanted to be around for the weekend," Johnson said. "I like this golf course. I feel like I play it very well. I just didn't putt very good. It's pretty simple.

Brooks Koepka, who was struggling because of his right knee last month, shot a disappointing round s of 74 and 75 to miss the weekend challenge at the 2021 Masters.

"How disappointed do you think I am?" Koepka said. "I worked my (butt) off just to get here, and then to play like this is pretty disappointing."

Now he's going to take a long break. He said he might not try to compete again until the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island starts May 20.

The other big names to miss the cut included Sergio Garcia (4-over), Max Homa (4-over), Rory McIlroy (6-over), Jason Day (9-over), and Patrick Cantlay (9-over).