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Tyson Fury v Arslanbek Makhmudov: heavyweight boxing – live | Tyson Fury
Key events
Round 9
A reminder this is scheduled for 12 rounds. Will it get that far? Fury has landed over 100 punches as this round begins and while the majority are jabs, he’s increasingly upping the number of power shots. Fury is now the one pushing Makhmudov to the ropes. Fury’s jabs are piercing Makhmudov’s high guard. Makhmudov is showing plenty of guts in there but he’s getting outworked and pretty much outclassed.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 89-82 Makhmudov)
Round 8
Fury’s jab is a range-finder, a ramrod, a distraction; whatever he needs it to be. But after setting the table with the jab, the idea is you ‘eat’ with the other punches – and on cue Fury lands an uppercut and a big left hand to the head! That stiffens Makhmudov’s legs and has him in survival mode. Fury is going through the gears here and Makhmudov is tiring.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 79-73 Makhmudov)
Round 7
Makhmudov finally has some success, landing two clean shots that – if they don’t at all shake up Fury – at least get his respect. But, as Andre Ward correctly assesses on commentary, he’s smothering his own work and is unable to capitalise on what pockets of success he has. Fury lands a terrific uppercut! He’s been looking for that and it lands. Makhmudov took it well. Fury goes back to controlling everything with his jab.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 69-64 Makhmudov)
Round 6
Fury fires in some straight punches to body and head. He easily evades Makhmudov’s cumbersome blows. Anthony Joshua is filming at all on his phone at ringside. Why not, eh? Though this is hardly a classic, AJ. Makhmudov rumbles forward. In truth, Fury is rarely catching him clean but every now and then, he lands a crisp blow. Fury briefly goes southpaw, then switches back again.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 59-55 Makhmudov)
Round 5
Makhmudov is landing the odd flush punch. But they are one-offs. Fury, unsurprisingly at 37, doesn’t look as light on his feet as he once did. But he’s still quicker with his fists and Makhmudov’s output has slowed. It’s an untidy fight but in the final minute, Fury goes to work, thumping in some body shots, then he lands a clubbing left hook up close. They touch gloves at the end of the round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 49-46 Makhmudov)
Round 4
Makhmudov clips Fury with a solid left hand! No sense Fury was rocked but it was a clean punch, the Russian is enthused and ups his work rate, launching hooks. Admittedly, they look like they’re coming through porridge, but you wouldn’t want to get caught by one. Fury grapples, counters, briefly gets Makhmudov in a headlock. A one-two right down the pipe from Fury lands flush on Makhmudov with a minute to go. It’s a bit of a roughhouse fight but Fury is busier and doing better work.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 39-37 Makhmudov)
Round 3
“I hurt him there,” Fury tells trainer SugarHill Steward in the corner between rounds. On the round’s start, he looks to use his feet, circling Makhmudov and firing out a more authoritative jab. Fury is headhunting, although Makhmudov’s body is a large target. The pair clinch in the last minute but Fury does start banging to the body now. Several times. Makhmudov is realising that in a mauling scrap up close, Fury is as comfortable as he is at range.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 29-28 Makhmudov)
Round 2
Makhmudov comes forward with more clubbing shots. He’s got a pawing jab but it’s pretty slow. Fury’s flicking jab is faster. He’s in centre ring, feinting, looking to counter ‘The Lion’. Makhmudov keeps charging Fury to the ropes but the two just clinch and grapple when Fury gets there. At the end of the round, Fury spins Makhmudov into the corner and lands some shots.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Makhmudov (Fury 19-19 Makhmudov)
Round 1
Makhmudov, very similar dimensions to Fury, bulls forward. He lands one decent right hand. He has a host of first-round KOs – of his 19 KOs in 23 fights, the vast majority are early. Fury isn’t unsettled though, he flicks out some counters. He’s happy to back off, observe his opponent, start to get a read on his style. It is crude. In the final minute, Fury holds his feet a little more in centre ring and fires off some straight punches.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 9-10 Makhmudov (Fury 9-10 Makhmudov)
A reminder that earlier, we were promised a huge announcement post-fight – and Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are ringside at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. So, well, you do the maths. But first we have the small matter of Fury trying to earn a first win since 2023 first!
Michael Buffer is readying and rumbling.
If it was any normal boxer, you’d say crying during the ring entrance was a bad sign – shades of Oliver McCall. But of course Tyson Fury is not normal.
His mood switches like the wind and after shedding a tear for Hatton and having got rid of that emotion, he’s got a wide grin plastered over his face as he heads for the ring and the heavyweight contest up next!
Tyson Fury is in tears as he emerges, his ring entrance the promised tribute to Ricky Hatton. We get a blast of Blue Moon and Fury is in a sky blue and black robe to pay homage to his friend and the British boxing icon.
Arslanbek Makhmudov walks to the ring, looking focused. He has a strange quirk – almost Bill Goldberg-esque (dare I saw on the Guardian) – of twitching his muscular neck. It does not detract from his intimidating aura I must say.
Donald McRae
Conor Benn, at 29, is eight years younger than Regis Prograis. He is also the bigger and much fresher man so there was little surprise in his clear points victory. But the best welterweights in the world will hardly be quaking after watching Benn tonight. Instead, I reckon they will jump at the chance of making a shedload of money by signing up to fight him.. At least to my slightly jaded eyes, Benn is not much more than a decent operator who is in supreme condition and can fight at a fair old lick.
The muted hum of the crowd throughout the fight suggested that they were not exactly blown away either.
And now for the big men…
Benn beats Prograis by unanimous decision
Conor Benn gets the same score from all three judges: 98-92 for a unanimous decision victory over Regis Prograis, who applauded the victor at the announcement.
Benn is bleeding from one of his heead-clash caused cuts, the gutsy Prograis is marked up from Benn’s fists. It was a pretty clear decision as Benn swept the second half of the contest after Prograis had his moments in the first five rounds. Cue the Sweet Caroline!
We await the decision but I suspect it’s a formality. Regis Prograis has never been stopped and you can see why, great toughness from the two-weight world champion who had his moments.
The head clashes, often a problem for an aggressive orthodox fighter against a southpaw, caused Conor Benn some cuts and moments of uncertainty. But he found a gameplan that worked, going to body and head with success.
Round 10
The final round! Benn pushes Prograis to the canvas and gets a ticking off from the referee. Prograis’ legs are looking pretty unsteady but he fires off a few right jabs to show Benn he’s still in there. Benn rotates the target, fists cocked, he’s desperate for a stoppage of course – but the distance may be against him. Yet another head clash! And Benn is bleeding once more. He’ll be marked up tomorrow but the greater punishment honestly came from Prograis’ head rather than his fists. The final bell and the two embrace.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 98-92 Prograis)
Round 9
I have the same score as David Haye. Erm, is that ever a good sign? (We didn’t score the rounds the exact same way, for what it’s worth.) Anyway, the ninth round is more of the same: Benn with the combination punches, body and head. But he hasn’t found a shot to really shake up Prograis, despite his late-fight dominance. The American’s face is very marked up now but he’s incredibly game and bites down to survive the round. He’s looking weary.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 88-83 Prograis)
Round 8
An aggressive start from Benn, unloading as he wants a stoppage inside the 10-round distance. The corner have done on a fine job on the cuts, they’re not a problem. Benn is throwing punches in bunches and while he’s getting caught with the odd one-punch counter coming in, there’s not enough on Prograis’ blows to slow down the man stalking him. Benn is twisting from the waist, trying to find the angles, another clear round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 78-74 Prograis)
Round 7
Prograis is sucking wind a bit as Benn bangs in the body shots. The head clashes, a problem against southpaws, have caused the cuts but to be fair to Benn he looks calm again now. The uppercut is working for Benn as he has found some variety at last. Prograis landed with the odd counter but the pace of this fight is against him. A big round for Benn.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 68-65 Prograis)
Round 6
Benn is wide open for a Prograis left hand. That’s happened a few times and a bigger puncher – or just a bigger fighter than the natural light-welterweight Prograis – would have Benn in some bother here. Benn lands an uppercut, but now he’s cut over the other eye! Benn’s face is looking a bit of a mess. Prograis says “no” when Benn lands a shot as the two exchange verbals as well as blows. I actually think Benn edged that round, landing some good body punches, but he’s not looking comfortable in there.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 58-56 Prograis)
Round 5
Benn looks to open up again. He’s outworking Prograis for spells but it’s a bit predictable and plenty of shots are hitting the American’s gloves. Prograis is catching Benn with some straight lefts. Now they’re swapping blows to the body! This fight is really catching fire and becoming a slugfest. I think Benn edged that on work rate but Prograis is putting in some eye-catching counters. Good entertainment.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 48-47 Prograis)
Round 4
Benn comes out fast but Prograis surprises him slightly by coming forward for the first time and landing a few solid punches. And Benn has a cut over his right eye! I’m not sure if it was a punch or a head clash but Prograis definitely landed a few clean shots there. Benn, bleeding, is more tenative. He’s still firing off shots – and connecting – but he doesn’t look particularly comfortable.
Additional: the replays show a clash of heads caused the cut.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 9-10 Prograis (Benn 38-38 Prograis)
Round 3
Benn starts firing off his own jab, he’s boxing more now, rather than just looking to knock Prograis’ block off. Probably wise. He lands some jabs to the head. Prograis is looking a bit marked up as he dodges some blows but plenty more find their mark. Benn is setting a fast pace.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 29-28 Prograis)
Round 2
Prograis seems to have recovered fine at the start of the second. But he’s still standing in the pocket and trading with Benn, which may be risky. That said, Benn is missing a lot in this round. Prograis touches down as he throws a shot, but it was clearly a slip. A slightly untidy round from Benn, Prograis landed the better punches, but how long can he keep it up?
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 9-10 Prograis (Benn 19-19 Prograis)
Round 1
Conor Benn on the attack in the first minute, looking to utilise his weight as the bigger man. Benn is on the offensive early on and he seems to stiffen Prograis’ legs a touch with one clubbing shot. Prograis might be best to avoid a firefight and the southpaw backs off and fires off with his job for the second half of the round. And Prograis’ knees buckle at the bell from a straight right! He was rocked there, the bell came at the perfect time.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Benn 10-9 Prograis (Benn 10-9 Prograis)
Conor Benn gets a good ovation from his home crowd, despite being a divisive figure to many in boxing. We’re about to hear the first bell in this 150lb contest!
Donald McRae
It’s pretty cold out here in Tottenham tonight but at least the atmosphere is starting to heat up. The arena is around 80% full and a sign that the once magnetic power of Tyson Fury is just fading a little as, at various promotional events this week, they were reduced to plugging ticket availability. Clearly, the fact that Arslanbek Makhmudov is not a stellar name has contributed to Fury’s failure to sell out the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight. But time is also ticking for Fury and his latest return follows two narrow defeats in a row to the mighty Oleksandr Usyk.
Conor Benn v Regis Prograis is about to start. I’ve been close to Prograis over the years and was in his locker room for one of the great world title nights of his career. But Prograis is 37 now and this could be a hard night…
Conor Benn emerges in a black and gold robe with his father, Nigel, who you may be familiar with, over his shoulder. We get a full orchestra at the top of the ramp! Nothing spells terror like a harmony of strings.
Michael Buffer is in the ring and the veteran MC announces Regis Prograis, who is walking to the ring in a wonderfully elaborate mask. His nickname, Rougarou, is a sort of Cajun werewolf, so that’s one of the cooler/more original boxing monikers.
His song of choice is Stand by Me by Ben E King. I’ve heard more intimidating entrance music if we’re honest.
We await Conor Benn v Regis Prograis – which looks simple to predict on paper. Benn is younger, bigger and coming off a career-best win after dominating an admittedly shopworn Chris Eubank Jr. Prograis is a former two-time world champion and, if he was still the fighter who gave Josh Taylor a hell of a scrap in this city in 2019, we’d be sizing up a very different contest.
But at 37, Prograis appears diminished. He’s endured knockdowns and wobbles in losing two of his last three fights, and was at his best at 140lb. There’s even talk that the American is carrying an injury going into tonight.
Then again, it’s not all plain sailing for Benn who looked a tad drawn coming in at 150lb having fought the two Eubank contests at middleweight. Plus there’s all the distractions of his conscious uncoupling with Eddie Hearn and embrace of new promoters Zuffa. A case of Prograis winding back the clock or Benn earning a statement win? Let’s find out!
Anthony Joshua is ringside in Tottenham and Turki al-Sheikh, boxing’s Saudi powerbroker, is speaking on Netflix. He hints at “a big surprise” tonight and says that “we will announce the biggest fight in the history of England”.
Right, you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out what he means. So if all goes to plan tonight, we’ll be getting a Fury-Joshua post-fight face-off tonight. Unless Makhmudov can upset the odds.
Riakporhe wins KO5 against Tshikeva
Richard Riakporhe wins the British heavyweight title by stopping Jeamie ‘TKV’ Tshikeva. Riakporhe adds his name to the list of heavyweight danger men, the former cruiserweight displaying heavyweight pop as he dominated TKV.
Riakporhe dropped TKV with a powerful right hand in round five, then bludgeoned the defending British champ along the ropes, prompting the referee to leap in. A little early? Arguably, but that was one-way traffic and there was only one winner.
The new champion, looking younger than his 36 years (what’s your secret, Richard?) is now 3-0 (3 KOs) since moving up from cruiserweight.
Huni defeats Clarke by majority decision
We’ve had one heavyweight contest involving a Briton already: Frazer Clarke lost a majority decision to Australia’s Justis Huni. It’s a third defeat in his past four for the veteran Olympic bronze medallist Clarke – though he was in tough against Huni, who’s only loss came against Fabio Wardley in a bout he was winning handily before he was spectacularly stopped.
A close fight with one judge seeing it even probably isn’t the worst outcome for Clarke, who’s also suffered at the fists of the unbeaten Wardley. Huni confirms his standing as a decent heavyweight contender.
More elite-level pre-fight previewing: Donald McRae on the reasons behind Tyson Fury’s latest comeback. I encourage you to give it a read.
For me, it’s everything,” Fury said of boxing. “It’s everything that I love to do and it’s something that I’ll continue to do.” He then added, with aching simplicity: “It’s been a while and I’ve missed it.”
Arslanbek Makhmudov may look ferocious but Donald McRae found him to be very friendly when they sat down together. Unless, perhaps, you are a bear.
Although it does sound like he regrets that particularly contest. “It was very terrible to be honest,” Arslanbek told Don.
Preamble
Welcome to Tyson Fury’s return to the ring after a 16-month absence, officially ending retirement number 1,247 (OK, it’s number five, but close enough). His opponent? The fearsome-looking Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov, although you suspect the real prize for Fury is victory setting up a long-awaited megafight with Anthony Joshua.
Not that victory is guaranteed at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Fury turns 38 in August, hasn’t won a fight since October 2023 and – while there’s no shame in two competitive points losses to Oleksandr Usyk – he’s probably no longer at the peak of his considerable powers. There’s always a danger with his age, wear and tear, and a previously less-than-spartan lifestyle outside of the ring that Fury might just turn up and discover he no longer has it.
As for the 36-year-old Makhmudov: it’s obvious why he’s been chosen. A whopping 6ft 6in, 265lb with the look of a James Bond henchman/Rocky villain/WWE monster heel (delete as applicable). Yet for all his solid amateur pedigree and a decent 21-2 (19 KOs) record, he’s a pretty straightforward boxer – and one who’s been stopped in two of his last five fights.
In his last outing, Makhmudov beat a Briton in Doncaster’s Dave Allen. But Fury is no Allen and the best version of ‘The Gypsy King’ would absolutely toy with Makhmudov. How much of that Fury is left, however, is a real point of intrigue on a card that also includes Conor Benn v Regis Prograis in a 150lb catchweight bout as Benn moves on from Chris Eubank Jr and his former promoter, Eddie Hearn.
There’s some good heavyweight scraps on the undercard as well but we’re expecting Benn v Prograis to begin around 8.55pm (BST), while the first bell for Fury v Makhmudov will probably be approx 10pm. Please follow along with us!
The fire at the premises on the Crossnamuckley Road was reported at about 19:15 BST on Saturday.
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The monument is a tribute to Pte Phillip Hewett, 2nd Lt Richard Shearer and Pte Leon Spicer.
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Key events
… and now that lead is back to four strokes. Patrick Reed dumps his tee shot at the par-three 4th into the bunker guarding the front right, and fails to get up and down. Bogey; he’s -8. Though I’ll hold off on updating the Leader Board for just a minute, because in the final match that follows, Rory clips the back-edge of the bunker on the left and might not have a whole lot of green to work with coming out. Moving Day is beginning to Viciously Oscillate.
McIlroy’s eagle effort on 3, a left-to-right curler from 20 feet, stops one inch short. But that’s a birdie to stem the bleeding. The lead, which stood at six shots just over half an hour ago, but was reduced to two barely ten minutes back, is now three again. Moving Day, ladies and gentlemen!
-12: McIlroy (3)
-9: Reed (3)
-8: Burns (3)
-7: Young (7), Li (6)
-6: Scheffler (13), Clark (5), Lowry (4), Rose (3)
Patrick Cantlay is another player who will be cursing his cold start on Thursday. An opening round of 77 put him behind the eight-ball from the get-go, but he carded a blemish-free 67 yesterday, and he’s not dropped a stroke today either. He’s birdied 2, 8, 12, 13 and now 16 to rise all the way up to -5 overall. Winning is probably beyond him, simply due to the amount of traffic ahead of him on the Leader Board, but improving on his best finish of tied-ninth in 2019 – when he briefly led on Sunday after eagle at 15 – is a live prospect now.
… so Rory being Rory, he responds to those two errant drives by clattering his tee shot at the 350-yard par-four 3rd up onto the green. He’ll have a look at eagle from 22 feet.
McIlroy’s lead cut to two
The craziest stat of the week? Rory McIlroy, six shots clear of the field after 36 holes, coming in 90th of 91 for driving accuracy! The big stick’s not behaving any better today, and having missed the fairway on 1, he finds the trees down the right of 2. He carves his second towards the patrons to the left of the green, and doesn’t get his chip in close. He’s left with two putts for par from 37 feet. He does well to cosy the first one close enough to tap in for the saver. But that’s a shaky 5-5 start. Not quite was wild as the 6-5 he started with on Sunday last year, but still. His partner Sam Burns meanwhile makes another birdie, while Patrick Reed makes it three in a row at 3. Rory at the Masters, eh?
-11: McIlroy (2)
-9: Reed (3)
-8: Burns (2)
-7: Li (5)
-6: Scheffler (13), Young (6), Clark (4), Lowry (4), Rose (3)
A third birdie in four holes for Haotong Li. The 30-year-old Chinese star was paired in the final round at the Open with Scottie Scheffler last year; what odds a repeat of that last-day pairing tomorrow? He’s -7. Meanwhile the aforementioned Brian Harman birdied 17 on his way home to a 67. The 2023 Open champ is the new clubhouse leader at -1.
You will have worked out from that updated Leader Board that Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood both made eagle at 2. No birdie on that hole in the following match from Justin Rose … but Patrick Reed made one, and he’s closing in Rory McIlroy, who lest we forget he bested in the final pairing in 2018. It’s not taken long for six to become three!
-11: McIlroy (1)
-8: Reed (2)
-7: Burns (1)
Wyndham Clark takes a shy at the 3rd green from the tee. His ball bounds up onto the putting surface, rolls towards the cup and … dies to the left, four feet short. So, so, so close to a hole-in-one albatross! The 2023 US Open champion tidies up for eagle – only the 20th on this hole in Masters history – and he takes up his place in the chasing pack … which is given further encouragement by Rory, whose wedge into 1 from 90 yards topples over the back. The champion leaves a putt up from the fringe short, and that’s an opening bogey for the leader. Sam Burns makes birdie, and just like that, a six-shot lead has been reduced to four!
-11: McIlroy (1)
-7: Reed (1), Burns (1)
-6: Scheffler (12), Young (5), Li (4), Clark (3), Lowry (2), Fleetwood (2)
Scottie Scheffler isn’t the only big name looming in Rory’s rear-view mirror. The local lad Patrick Reed has some record around Augusta National. That win in 2018, of course, but also four subsequent top-ten finishes, the latest coming just last year, when he holed out from the 17th fairway for eagle and a third-place finish. He’s continued that form into this week seamlessly, with a pair of 69s, and now he cracks his approach at Tea Olive from 165 yards to five feet. In goes the birdie putt, he moves to -7, and McIlroy’s lead is cut to just (!) five in the blink of an eye.
Rory McIlroy begins his third round
Rory on the tee. A few “Oh wow!”s as he batters his opening shot over the bunkers on the right of the fairway. His ball ends up in the second cut, but he should have a route to the green. He’s going round in this final pairing with Sam Burns, who splits the fairway. McIlroy goes into this round with the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history: his mark of six bests the five set by Harry Cooper (1936), Herman Keiser (1946), Jack Nicklaus (1975), Raymond Floyd (1976), Jordan Spieth (2015) and Scottie Scheffler (2022). All but Cooper went on to win.
… and now Young chips in from the back of the par-three 4th! That’s a huge bonus, and reward for a 25-yard wedge that bumps up the slope before travelling along a huge left-to-right swing and dropping. Meanwhile the Scottie charge continues apace. He sends a gentle draw into the 11th from 191 yards, setting up an eight-footer for birdie. He’s just missed one from similar range, so this could either kick-start another low-scoring blitz, or sour his mood severely. Ah, it’s the latter! In it goes, into the centre of the cup. And with back-to-back birdies for Haotong Li, it’s safe to announce that the cream is rising.
-12: McIlroy
-6: Scheffler (11), Young (4), Li (3), Burns, Reed
-5: Matsuyama (8), Lowry (1), Fleetwood (1), Rose
Cameron Young lashes his tee shot all the way up onto the hi-rise green at the short par-four 3rd. He’s rewarded with birdie. The new Players champion will be utterly cursing his sorry opening salvo on Thursday: without those bogeys at 1, 5, 6 and 7, he’d be just three off the lead now. Just the one bogey since that cold start, incidentally, 32 holes and ten birdies later. A major champion in waiting, surely.
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Scheffler (10), Young (3), Li (2), Lowry (1), Fleetwood (1), Rose
Scottie Scheffler sends a lovely approach into the 10th. From 151 yards, he uses the bank guarding the bunker on the right of the green to bring his ball around to eight feet. A huge birdie chance, but he uncharacteristically lets it dribble apologetically on the low side. Just a par, although given 10 has only given up five birdies today, that “just” is doing a lot of work.
Tyrrell Hatton found every single green in regulation yesterday as he made his 66. Only Jim Furyk and Kevin Na have managed to achieve that in the last 30 years. So what happens at the very first hole today? Well, he lands his second onto the front portion of the green … but the spin takes him back off it. So that’s snapped that sequence. But he wedges up elegantly to six feet, and tidies up for his par. He’s -4.
Scheffler out in 31
Scottie Scheffler is on the charge! A no-fuss birdie at the par-five 8th. Then from 160 yards on 9, he lands his approach 15 feet front-left of the pin and uses the camber of the green to gather his ball towards the hole. The ball rolls serenely towards the cup, and looks like dropping. Indeed it does, a little bit, taking a quick peek inside as it slingshots round the back, left, down, right, up again and out! So close to holing out for eagle! The ball stops four feet away. Birdie, and the world number one has traversed the front nine in 31 of your golf shots. This Masters ain’t over yet!
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Scheffler (9), Matsuyama (5), Gotterup (3), Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
Chris Gotterup, who came third at last year’s Open, a week after winning the Scottish, looks the real deal. The 26-year-old from Oklahoma already has two wins on Tour this season, in Hawaii and Phoenix, and is looking good to make another big statement of intent on his Masters debut. Eagle at 2, after cracking his second from 227 yards to eight feet, and he’s -5 overall. He’s alongside Hideki Matsuyama, who has just carded his third consecutive birdie at 5, and you can be sure Rory McIlroy has clocked that the chasing pack haven’t given up hope yet. Plenty of movement beneath him on the Leader Board now.
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Matsuyama (5), Gotterup (2), Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
-4: Scheffler (8), Knapp (4), Homa (3), Young (1), Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan
-3: Fitzpatrick (6), Griffin (3), Day (1)
Max Homa led at this stage two years ago, ending the week in third spot after falling away over the weekend with a pair of 73s. Undaunted, he came back last year, and tied for 12th. The 35-year-old Californian has fallen in love with Augusta National late in life, and he’s going well again this week. Birdies at 1 and 2 have whisked him up the standings to -4.
While we’re waiting for the leading players to take to the course, we’ve got time to indulge in a wee spot of Masters nostalgia. This episode of This Golfing Life, a wonderful new golf podcast hosted by the award-winning journalist and author Dan Davies, dives deep into the career of the 1980 and 1983 champion, the legendary Seve Ballesteros, and comes much recommended. (Fans of Paddington and Maurice Flitcroft may enjoy this episode too.) Get on it!
Back-to-back birdies for the 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama at 3 and 4. Meanwhile Matt Fitzpatrick pours in a downhill left-to-right 30-footer on 4. It’s the 2022 US Open champion’s second birdie of the day, and he moves to -3 … where he’s joined by Scottie Scheffler, who after a string of pars, adds to his eagle on 2 with birdie at 7. Scheffler’s drive at 7 toyed with the pines down the left, but from 130 yards, he wedges to seven feet and tidies up to regain that upward momentum. And there’s the inviting par-five 8th coming up.
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
-4: Matsuyama (4), Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan, Day, Young
-3: Scheffler (7), Fitzpatrick (4), Griffin (2), Homa (1), Gotterup (1)
Brian Harman hasn’t been in great form of late. Even so, he was mentioned in dispatches before the Tournament began as a dark horse, with the fiery conditions negating his length disadvantage, and his short game so sweet. However, form trumped hipster punditry as he opened with a dismal 79. However the 2023 Open champion bounced back spectacularly with a 69 yesterday, and he’s in even better nick this afternoon, with birdies at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 14. Just the one dropped shot at 7, and he’s level par overall.
Alex Noren was out in the first group this morning. The veteran Swede has absolutely no history at Augusta National to speak of – a tie for 62nd in 2019 is his best return – but he’s looking to amend that record this year. A round of 69 today to follow yesterday’s 71; how he’ll be ruing his opening 77. But as things stand he’s in the top 40 at +1 overall and very much trending in the right direction. Ladies and gentlemen, your very early clubhouse leader.
In terms of importance and sheer breathtaking drama, Rory McIlroy’s run of six birdies in the last seven holes last night is unlikely to be matched this week. If it is, we’re in for an era-defining treat. But the course does seem to be offering opportunities. The 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley reached the turn a wee bit earlier with four consecutive birdies, 6 through 9; he’s level par for the Tournament. And now Rasmus Højgaard has matched that feat with birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 16. The run’s unlikely to continue, as he’s just whistled his tee shot at 17 into the trees down the right, although that’s what Rory did yesterday and look what ended up happening there. Anyway, Højgaard is +3 overall for now.
There have only been three aces in Masters history at the famous short par-three 12th Golden Bell. Claude Harmon (1948 champion and father of Butch) in 1947; the amateur William Hyndman in 1959; and two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange in 1988. Three in 89 years … then nearly two in two days. Yesterday afternoon, the 18-year-old amateur Mason Howell landed his tee shot a couple of inches away from the hole; today the 2011 winner Charl Schwartzel smacked his wedge flush onto the base of the flagstick, a couple of feet up, and away. So close, but yet so far. Howell’s ball stopped near enough to tap in for birdie; Schwartzel’s nearly twanged back off the green but at least he saved his par.
The world number one Scottie Scheffler, twice a winner here, started the day 12 shots off the lead. But he’s only six off second spot, and you can be darn sure he won’t have given up the ghost just yet. To this end, he creams a high fade into the 2nd green from 265 yards to six feet, and makes no mistake with the eagle putt. That’s his second eagle at Pink Dogwood of the week, and it whisks him up the standings to -2. He followed up the first on day one with birdie at 3, but he can’t repeat that today, missing a relatively straight seven-footer on the next green. But there’s an early reminder for Rory that there’s plenty of trouble lurking in the pack should he slip up.
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
-4: Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan, Day, Young
-3: Gotterup, Koepka, Griffin
-2: Gerard (4), Scheffler (4), Homa, Knapp, Schauffele, Matsuyama
Welcome, patrons, to another sunny day in Augusta, Georgia. Temperatures are expected to make the mid-80s this afternoon, and the wind shouldn’t get up too much. So expect the course to get harder and faster as the day progresses … though the early signs suggest the greens might have been treated to a sprinkle of water overnight or early this morning, because they’ve been fairly receptive and agreeable so far. That seems a fairly logical thing to do if you’re hoping to keep this Tournament competitive: more birdies, more chance of someone taking a run at Rory McIlroy and making a game of this tomorrow. Then again, that also gives Rory the chance to attack the pins, and look what happened with relatively agreeable greens yesterday afternoon. Who’d run a professional golf tournament?
Preamble
It’s Moving Day! Here’s what the top of the leaderboard looked like after 36 holes …
-12: McIlroy
-6: Burns, Reed
-5: Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood
-4: Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan, Day, Young
-3: Gotterup, Koepka, Griffin
-2: Homa, Knapp, Schauffele, Matsuyama
-1: Brennan, Taylor, Fitzpatrick, Morikawa
E: Campbell, Åberg, Scheffler, English, Gerard, D Johnson, Henley, Cantlay
… here are some big names who have missed the cut …
Danny Willett, JJ Spaun, Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson, Nicolai Højgaard, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Smith, Fred Couples, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Angel Cabrera and perhaps most shockingly of all Bryson DeChambeau …
… and today’s tee times can be found here. We’ll get going at 6pm BST. It’s on!
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