Dustin Johnson soared to Masters record three eagles on Friday
If someone is going to catch Jordan Spieth at this Masters, they’re going to have to make up strokes in a hurry.
Dustin Johnson showed the blueprint on Friday, making a tournament record three eagles in Round 2 as part of a 5-under 67 that has him in a tie for third place.
Johnson made eagle 3 on three of the four par 5s at Augusta National – Nos. 2, 8 and 15 – to make a charge up the leaderboard.
Until Friday, no player in the prior 78 Masters had ever made more than two eagles in the same round.
“It was pretty special and a lot of fun, too,” said Johnson.
On No. 2, Johnson hit a 5-iron from 207 yards to 18 feet, then drained the putt. At the uphill eighth, Johnson creamed a 3-iron from 250 yards to 11 feet at the eighth. And made the putt. And at No. 15, it was again a 5-iron, hitting his second shot to inside 2 feet from 205 yards for a tap-in eagle.
He also made birdie on the 13th, the other par 5 on the course, to play the Augusta’s longest holes in 7 under par, which just also happens to be his aggregate score through 36 holes. He’s 9-under par on the par 5s through two rounds.
That’s not a coincidence. The Doral winner is one of the Tour’s longest hitters. However, he didn’t have some kind of superhuman strength on Friday.
“It wasn’t like I was hitting it any farther,” Johnson said. “It was normal shots that I’ve had in the past. Just it’s always tough around here to hit the shots the correct distance with the wind. The wind was blowing pretty hard today. So to figure out the wind and get the shot in the right spot, it was tough. But I just hit some great shots on those holes.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
