The Masters on HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk Masters Saturday

Friday at the Ryder Cup is the most pulsating, dramatic and exciting Friday in Golf, but this Masters Friday was as compelling as any in championship golf as I have seen in nearly 20 years of playing and watching this wondrous game. It was a day with storylines galore and it has produced a leaderboard to savour featuring experienced players, young guns, legends of the game and newcomers all in contention, but nothing compares to the incredible story of Tianlang Guan.

Following a first round of 73 which just blew everyone's minds and included stunning birdies at the 10^th and 18^th Guan took aim at history and with 7 pars and 2 bogeys on the front nine he was well placed to do so. He made pars at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 before a controversial and somewhat unfair decision to penalize the youngster was made by European Tour chief referee John Paramor. Slow play is the biggest issue in modern golf and it is something which can be seen when looking at the time it took the very first group of the tournament to play their first 11 holes on Thursday. Sandy Lyle, John Peterson and Nathan Smith played the first 11 holes in a snail-like 3 hours and 45 minutes, with nobody in front of them, with perfect greens and never once waiting on a shot for the entire round. Then last night Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Scott Piercy took 5 hours 45 minutes to play 18 holes, slow play is killing golf at all levels of the game. It harms television viewing figures and it sets a bad example to youngsters. It is maybe this bad example which has influenced Tianlang Guan, but for him to be singled out as the first player in nine years to be called up for slow play in a Major Championship is quite disgusting.

The problem with the way this rule is enforced is the so-called “Bad time” ruling, and if you get several then you get penalized. In my opinion the tours, officials and organizations should go back to setting a recommended time for each hole and if any of the players in the field do not achieve these times then they are penalized immediately by one stroke and informed by the official on each hole. This may end up with 100 golfers being penalized by 18 shots in a round but it will have the desired impact and make these over-paid and under-worked superstars clean up their act. The news of the penalty assessed on Guan came as yet another twist on a quite extraordinary day watching this incredible young talent manoeuvre his way around Augusta National, the sense of anticipation was overwhelming and the way he brushed difficult and pressure-packed putts into the hole was quite sensational. With the penalty shot added he posted a round of 75 and a two-round total of 148 to sit inside the 10-shot rule and set to make the cut, a nervous afternoon awaited Guan.

For the second successive day Ernie Els made an eagle at the par five fourteenth and both were vital to him making the cut, the South African winner of The Open Championship made 11 bogeys in the first two rounds and made the cut at 2-over-par, just 8 shots adrift and still holding feint hopes of claiming the third leg of the grand slam. Sergio Garcia began the second round with a share of the lead but again his supporters will be disappointed with the Spaniards position following such a good first round, making four bogeys and fourteen pars to fall back to 2-under, still in contention but with no momentum. One man who had looked to take advantage of Sergio's failings was Dustin Johnson, despite making bogeys at the first and third he bounced back with birdies at 4, 9, 10 and 13 to become the first player to reach 7-under so far and looked like taking control of the tournament. But Johnson has demonstrated on three occasions when in contention in Majors he cannot cope mentally, only this time he didn't wait until Sunday to have a major meltdown. A bogey on 14 was followed by a wet approach at 15 and a double-bogey, he then made par at 16 before another bogey at 17 and a poor double-bogey on the 18^th to drop six shots in the final five holes and fall five behind going into the weekend.

Johnson is four shots behind the remarkable Fred Couples, troubled by back injuries for the best part of two decades the former World Number One and 1992 Masters champion has been in contention three times now since his 50^th birthday and is once again among the leaders going into the weekend at Augusta. A birdie on the 18^th took Couples to 5-under-par to hold the clubhouse lead and set the target for those on the course. Overnight joint leader Marc Leishman held his round together on a day when he could easily have drifted out of contention and made pars on the last four holes to match Couples at 5-under. The stand-out player of the morning though was the World Number Two. Rory McIlroy has admitted in the past that he has had trouble digging in and making a score when the chips are down and following bogeys at 1 and 3 it would have been easy for him to drift out of contention completely, at that point he was 8 behind. But you don't achieve the things in the game he has without having guts, determination and no little skill, all of which he demonstrated on the final 15 holes of his second round. A stunning second shot at 8 set up an eagle and birdies at 13 and 14 saw him get to 2-under-par, he stumbled at 17 with a bogey but on 18 he played his approach to 10 feet and nailed the putt to post 2-under and continue his quest for a second consecutive Major Championship.

One man looking for a first Major is Lee Westwood, but maybe not for much longer. I have said since Dubai that I feel Lee Westwood will win The Masters and I have seen nothing to change my mind. His short game is immeasurably better than it has ever been and he has the experience to play the type of golf required to win a Major, especially around Augusta. A stunning birdie at the last hole on Friday moved him to 3-under and just 3 behind going into the weekend, he has now been inside the top ten after 36 holes at Augusta in each of the last four Masters Tournaments. The last time the first 14 tournaments on the PGA Tour were won by American golfers was 1989, coincidentally 1989 was the year in which an Englishman donned his first green jacket, history may well be about to repeat itself this weekend.

Westwood may have been my favourite but there is no question who the bookies feel will win this weekend. Tiger Woods played flawless golf over the first 14 holes at Augusta on Friday, making birdies at 5, 7 and 8 to reach 5-under and have a share of the lead for much of the afternoon, the commentators on Sky and the twittersphere were giving him the green jacket. Unfortunately for these people golf is not easy to predict and the most unpredictable incident occurred on the par five 15^th. Following a pushed drive into the trees Tiger laid up, his approach was arrowed at the pin but unfortunately for the world number one it struck the stick and spun violently off the front of the green into the water. He composed himself almost immediately and played a phenomenal approach to set up a bogey to limit the damage. Having made a sand save at 16 and negotiating a tree on the left of the 17^th he went to the 18^th green at four-under-par. Woods' approach to the final hole was long of the ridge behind the flag, leaving himself an almost impossible putt, 3 putts later the claims that Tiger had one arm in the green jacket were made to look very foolish indeed.

Woods' errors down the stretch allowed Jason Day to steal the headlines with birdies on 13 and 16 to reach 6-under and take the lead into the weekend. No Australian has ever won the green jacket but with Day leading, Leishman one stroke back and Adam Scott just three back there must be a very good chance of the green jacket going down under for the first time.

The leaderboard at the start of Masters Saturday is as good as you could wish for, the top 30 are covered by six shots and include youngsters such as Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Jason Dufner, Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Moore, Marc Leishman and the leader Jason Day looking to make a big impact; experienced major contenders looking for a breakthrough win in Steve Stricker, Justin Rose, Luke Donald, KJ Choi, Matt Kuchar, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Lee Westwood; Major Champions looking for another big win including Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, David Toms, Angel Cabrera, Jim Furyk, Charl Schwartzel and Trevor Immelman and two stars of yesteryear who have both won The Masters and have ruled the world as world number one. Bernhard Langer is just four off the lead and two behind Couples.

It is the dream leaderboard in my opinion, lurking at 3-over is Phil Mickelson who needs a super Saturday to get back into contention but who would bet against it? Saturday is known as moving day but I won't be moving anywhere, this will be gripping, thrilling, dramatic, exciting and enthralling. And there are still two days to go. Golf's First Major of 2013 could set the tone for an epic year of golf.