The Rory McIlroy show has been renewed for another season at the Masters. The 2025 champion enters the second round tied with Sam Burns for the lead at 5 under par.
McIlroy is out to become the first repeat champion at Augusta National since Tiger Woods in 2002. To do it, he’ll have to hold off the likes of Patrick Reed, Justin Rose and, naturally, two-time winner Scottie Scheffler, who had a strong Round 1 himself. Kurt Kitayama, Jason Day and Xander Schauffele also come into Friday’s round in good position.
The same can’t be said for Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, favorites coming into the year’s first major but who both struggled with 4-over and 6-over starts, respectively. The LIV Golf stars will need to dig themselves back if they want to play into the weekend for a green jacket. Keep scrolling for the latest updates from Augusta.
Watch the Masters live on Fubo (free trial)
Masters leaderboard
Keep up with all the latest scores on our live Masters leaderboard.
Masters coverage: Where to watch on TV, streaming
Round 2 of the 2026 Masters will broadcast nationally on Amazon Prime starting at 1 p.m. before switching to ESPN at 3 p.m. The ESPN broadcast is available to stream via Fubo, which offers a free trial for new subscribers, and the tournament is available to stream for free on Masters.com and the Masters app. Featured group and hole streaming from PGA Tour Live is available on the ESPN app (with a subscription to the Select plan) starting at 8:45 a.m.
Who will miss the cut at Masters 2026?
Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Min Woo Lee entered Round 2 needing a good day to qualify for the weekend rounds at Augusta. Follow the projected cut line with our live tracker.
Rory McIlroy reclaims the lead, separates from pack with dazzling chip
Through 11 holes, Rory McIlroy was 1 under on the day and tied with Patrick Reed for the lead at the 2026 Masters. But since then, the defending champion has been on fire, with birdies on five of his last six holes, including a long bump-and-run from off the green to send the patrons into a frenzy. He has extended his lead to five with one hole to play.
Patrick Reed joins Rory McIlroy atop leaderboard at 2026 Masters
Patrick Reed is certainly comfortable at Augusta. The 2018 Masters champion is bogey free through 12 holes, and this approach shot on 11 set up his third birdie of the day to tie Rory McIlroy at 6 under for the tournament.
Tommy Fleetwood making a charge at the Masters
Tommy Fleetwood may be the best golfer going today with a major championship. Ranked fourth in the world, Fleetwood has runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open and British Open and a T5 at the PGA Championship. And at Augusta, his best finish was tied for third in 2024. But he’s looking to best that effort, and thanks to this eagle on the par-5 eighth, Fleetwood finished the front nine in Round 2 at 2-under 34. He’s is four shots behind the leader through 11 holes.
Haotong Li sinks four birdies in a row
Playing in his first Masters since 2019, Haotong Li rocketed up the leaderboard thanks to four consecutive birdies on holes 13-16. He then drained a 22-foot putt on the 17th to save par. The surprise fourth-place finisher at the 2025 Open Championship, Li finds himself tied for third at 4 under for the tournament, three shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
Scottie Scheffler slips back at the Masters
The world’s No. 1 golfer started his first round on a blistering pace with an eagle and birdie on holes 2-3, but those were his only holes under par the rest of the day. Scottie Scheffler started today three strokes behind the leaders, but back-to-back bogeys have dropped the two-time Masters champ to even par for the tournament. He hit into the bunker on the par-3 fourth, then narrowly missed another on the par-4 fifth before three-putting. Scheffler seemed to find his stride with birdies on Nos. 8 and 10, but he hit into the Rae’s Creek tributary on the 13th and overshot the green into more water on the 15th. He bogeyed both holes, ending his 2-over round tied for 22nd.
Rory McIlroy extends lead at Masters
Defending champion Rory McIlroy came into Round 2 of the Masters with a share of the lead. The five-time major winner wasted no time in taking sole control of the leaderboard, draining three straight birdies from Nos. 2-4 to drop to 8 under for the tournament.
Tyrrell Hatton makes a charge for LIV Golf
It hasn’t been a great start at the Masters for the LIV Golf Tour with no players under par in the first round and recent defectors Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka in good shape. But Tyrrell Hatton is doing his best to change that, sinking birdies on four holes on the front nine. He went back-to-back on Nos. 2 and 3 before attacking the pin on the seventh, with more birdies on the ninth and 12th before consecutive birds on 15 and 16. He bogeyed his last hole to end his 6-under day at 4 under for the tournament, tied for fourth after briefly tying Rory McIlroy atop the leaderboard. Hatton finished in the top 10 at the 2024 Masters and tied for fourth at the 2025 U.S. Open.
Bryson DeChambeau tees off. Will he make Masters cut?
Along with Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau is on the course for Round 2 at Augusta National. The two-time U.S. Open champ entered as a favorite to win his first green jacket, but his first round was undone by a triple bogey on No. 11, leaving him near the projected cut line. His day hasn’t started well, driving into a bunker en route to a bogey on the first hole and hitting into another on the second, letting out an audible groan.
Justin Rose surges up Masters leaderboard with birdie streak
Justin Rose has been the runner-up at three Masters, including a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy last year. He got on a run at Augusta with three birdies over four holes, starting on the seventh and continuing with three straight birdies from Nos. 9-11. He briefly entered a tie for the lead and ended his day with a 3-under 69 and sits at 5 under for the tournament, putting him in position to be in the final pairing for Round 3.
Wyndham Clark soars up Masters leaderboard
Round 2 at the Masters is witnessing its first to ascend the leaderboard. Wyndham Clark shot even par on Thursday but ran off three straight birdies on holes 2-4. He began the back nine with a bogey, but back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th has him at 4 under for the day and the tournament, putting him alone in third place a stroke behind Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns. In two starts at Augusta, the 2023 U.S. Open champ has made one cut and finished last year’s Masters tied for 46th.
Brooks Koepka rising at the Masters
When his tee shot on No. 2 rolled off the fairway, Brooks Koepka opted to keep his driver out and crush his second shot about 300 yards, just shy of the greenside bunker. The two-time runner-up at Augusta made birdie, then turned in another on the par-3 third, and with another bird on No. 5 and another on No. 8, Koepka finds himself 1 under for the tournament and knocking on the door of the top 10.
Why did Wayne Player, Gary Player’s son, get banned from the Masters?
In 2021, Wayne Player was the caddie for his father for the ceremonial tee shots that signal the start of the Masters Tournament. The traditional honorary starters, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, were joined by Lee Elder, in a tribute to Elder, the first Black golfer to play in the Masters in 1975.
During the ceremony, Wayne Player held up a branded sleeve of golf balls in a guerilla marketing attempt for which the Augusta National Golf Club banned him. Gary Player has since said he wants to take his grandchildren to play Augusta National but the club will not let him. – Kim Luciani, USA TODAY Network – Florida
Gary Woodland Masters security
Gary Woodland is set to tee off with Scottie Scheffler and Robert MacIntyre. The 41-year-old suffers from PTSD following 2023 brain surgery, which has led to hypervigilance when anyone get too close, such as what happened during his Houston Open win at the end of March. He is getting extra security at the Masters and said after his 1-under first round that he was very pleased with how everything went.
“Security has been with me since I got here on Sunday so I have a better idea where they are at,” Woodland said. “They were amazing today. Butch (caddie Brennan Little) and I are learning, too. There are some tight tee boxes back there, so making sure the bag is behind me or Butch is standing behind me really helps calm me down a lot.” – Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post
Why was Danny Willett carrying his own bag?
Fans watching from home might have been confused seeing Danny Willett serving as his own caddie down the fairway on No. 5. That’s not a permanent situation: The broadcast team explained that his caddie, Sam Haywood, was tending to a bunker on the previous hole, in which Willett shot a double-bogey 5, and needed a breather. Haywood rejoined Willett farther down the fairway. The 38-year-old from England bogeyed the fifth and sits at 7 over for the tournament.
Robert MacIntyre could face discipline after gesture at the Masters
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre was white hot coming into Augusta, but he was left flipping mad during his first round, especially amid a quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 15th. MacIntyre was caught on camera giving the middle finger toward the green after hitting two straight shots into the water. According to an ESPN report, Masters organizers could issue disciplinary action against the lefty, who is scheduled to start his second round at 10:19 a.m. ET.
Masters tee times
All times Eastern:
Masters favorites
Latest odds according to BetMGM:
Masters location: Where is Augusta National?
The Masters is the only one of golf’s majors that doesn’t change location each year, taking place annually at Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta, Georgia is right along the South Carolina border about 95 miles southeast of the University of Georgia in Athens and 75 miles southwest of the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
Masters weather update: Augusta forecast for Friday
AccuWeather predicts a high of 79 degrees with sunny skies in the forecast today in Augusta, Georgia. Winds are expected to blow out of the northeast at 5 mph. There is a 0% chance of rain.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 2026 Masters live leaderboard updates, Round 2 tee times, TV coverage
Reporting by Dan Rorabaugh, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
