Masters leader Chad Campbell picked up where he left off with three birdies on the front nine on Friday to improve to 10 under par early in the second round of the US Masters.
Campbell, who fired an opening seven-under-par 65 on a record day of scoring at Augusta National Golf Club, birdied the par-five second hole, par-three fourth and par-five eighth to hold a four-shot lead over fellow American Kenny Perry.
Perry birdied his first two holes to move up after his first-round 68.
Winds, however, were picking up ahead of an expected storm front that was forecast to hit the area in mid-afternoon.
World number one Tiger Woods, playing his first major since having knee surgery after his triumph in last June’s US Open, parred his first two holes to remain two under par.
American Jim Furyk, who was tied for second after opening with a six-under 66, had yet to tee off, while compatriot Hunter Mahan lost two strokes to par with a double-bogey at the par-four third that dropped him to four under.
Perfect weather conditions on Thursday and a generous course set-up helped players to enjoy the start of the year’s first major championship.
Thirty-eight players broke par including 19 rounds in the 60s, both first-round records at the Masters, and the 96-man field combined for a 72.25 scoring average.
Campbell made the greatest start in the 73 years of the tournament with birdies on his first five holes, and he later ran off another four in a row to reach nine under before bogeys at the last two denied his bid to break the record mark of 63.
The 34-year-old Campbell, ranked 76th, is seeking his first major victory. The Texan was runner-up at the 2003 PGA Championship and tied for third at the 2006 Masters.
Several well-known veterans also took advantage of conditions to spring up the leaderboard on Thursday.
Fifty-year-old Augusta native Larry Mize, who won the 1987 Masters, shot 67, while Australian Greg Norman and twice champion Bernhard Langer of Germany, 51, both returned 70.
Norman (54) who lost a memorable play-off to Mize 22 years ago when the American chipped in from 140 feet, is playing the Masters for the first time since 2002. – Reuters