AUGUSTA, Ga., April 9 (UPI) -- Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, both trying to capture their first major championship, shared the lead Friday midway through the 74th Masters.
Only three rounds in the 60s were shot at the Augusta National Golf Club Thursday and two of them came from the Englishmen who seized a two-shot advantage over, among others, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Masters officials, having seen 31 sub-par rounds produced on the famed course Thursday, toughened the task Friday by making the hole placements more severe. Swirling winds added to the challenge and any round under par was an excellent one.
Poulter, who won his first tournament on American soil earlier this year at the World Match Play Championship, shot a 68. Westwood, who has climbed back to No. 4 in the world rankings after falling below the 200 mark, fired a 69. Both bogeyed the final hole.
That put them at 8-under 136 heading into the weekend of the year's first major.
Woods, appearing in competition for the first time since his personal life unraveled late last year, was again welcomed by the huge crowds and responded with a 70 that put him at 138.
"It was a completely different course today," said Woods, who is seeking his fifth Masters title.
Mickelson, a two-time winner of the event, shot a 71 to move into a tie for third with Woods, Ricky Barnes, K.J. Choi and Anthony Kim. Mickelson would have been in third place by himself if he had not missed a 12-inch putt on the fifth hole.
Y.E. Yang, who won the most recently contested major event eight months ago by edging Woods at the PGA Championship, was alone in eighth place at 139.
First-round leader Fred Couples and 60-year-old Tom Watson were tied for ninth with Soren Kjeldsen at 141. Couples bogeyed the last three holes to shoot a 75 and Watson battled to a 74. Defending champion Angel Cabrera made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to make the cut, which fell at 3-over 147.
Among the toughest tests Friday was the 14th hole, where the hole was placed on a small ledge surrounded by slopes. The 95-player field combined to make 30 bogeys on the hole along with six double bogeys and two triple bogeys.
