Rose retains Masters lead, defending champion Johnson eliminated | NOW

Justin Rose is also in charge after the second round of the Masters, but the English golfer saw his generous four-stroke lead evaporate in the first round. Many top players did not make the cut at the prestigious tournament.

After a 72-stroke round at Augusta National Golf Club in the United States, Rose has only one stroke less than her first pursuers. They are two Americans: Will Zalatoris and Brian Harman.

Rose wasn’t as smooth as Thursday, when he scored seven birdies on the last ten holes. On his second round of eighteen holes, he scored four bogeys, but recovered with three birdies on the last five holes. His lap of 72 was exactly the average for the job.

“I didn’t play any tournaments for a month due to back pain so I knew there would be times when I would struggle. I’m not too confident, but at the end of the round I “Got the right thing.. feeling back,” said Rose, 40, who will be able to defend her 2016 Olympic title in Rio in Tokyo this summer.

Defending champion Johnson already eliminated

The surprise of the day was the elimination of Dustin Johnson, defending champion and number one in the world rankings. The American did not make the cut with his score of 75 moves and is no longer part of the peloton in the third round.

He is in good company, as top players in the world such as Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, American Brooks Koepka and Spaniard Sergio García also missed the cup.

Johnson was deeply disappointed after his second round of 75 strokes, 3 over par. He scored two too many shots to continue in the tournament. Three bogeys on the last four holes killed him.

“I messed up with the putting. It’s that easy. Of course I’m disappointed because I love this job and I can play well here, but I just didn’t put it well,” he said. said Johnson, who now wears the green jacket on Sunday. trophy for the winner, will have to attract another.

The only 21-year-old American, Matthew Wolff, was disqualified. He had falsified the scorecard on which he had recorded too few hits on track 17.

No Dutch are participating in the Augusta Masters this year. Joost Luiten was the last of the year’s first major in 2015.