AUGUSTA, GA. — As a young married man, Patrick Reed is learning what some veterans of the marriage game have known for a while: most of your problems disappear when you start doing what your wife requests.

Justine, Reed’s wife and former Q-School caddie, told him last year before the start of the 2017 Masters to hit 3-wood off Augusta National’s challenging par-4 first hole. He hit driver. He also missed the cut.

“I’ve hit driver there into the left trees, or I think it’s straight and it’s just in the left rough,” he said Friday evening after his best-of-the-day nine-birdie 66 in the second round of the 2018 Masters. “I’ve hit it in the right bunker. Hit it all over the place. I usually make a mess of that hole.”

Like most of the rest of us, Reed had to learn the hard way.

But this year, two three-woods off No. 1 and patience everywhere else have helped him to the only two rounds in the 60s from the field and a two-stroke lead at 135 (9-under) going into Saturday. It also helped him to a par on No. 1 in Thursday’s opening round and a birdie Friday, the first in a three-straight-birdies start.

So while lots of major champions have a seat at the Leaderboard Table today, it’s this wears-his-emotions-on-his-sleeve 27-year-old bulldog from Spring, Texas who graduated from University High in Baton Rouge and led local Augusta University to a pair of NCAA Division 1 Golf Championships who leads them all going into Moving Day at Augusta National.

A five-time winner on the PGA Tour who’s played on two Ryder Cup teams, Reed is two shots better than Marc Leishman, who bogeyed just once and eagled the par-5 15th on his way to a 67 Friday.

Behind those two are eight players in the next 10 who’ve won at least one major and trail Reed by only four to seven shots.

In front of them are 36 weekend holes at Augusta National and, immediately, a forecast that calls for rain Saturday morning and wind for the day.

That’s a lot to deal with.

But so is this new Masters-minded, Augusta-wiser Reed. He needed just 22 putts Friday and is the only player in the field to birdie all the par 5s in the opening two rounds. No one’s done that since Ernie Els when he made his final Masters run in 2015.

This from a guy who shot a miserable 77-76 and missed the cut last year. The opening score came on a windy, wet day at Augusta National, one Charley Hoffman managed to navigate with an impressive 65. Hoffman is seven back at 2-under.

“I show up last year, the wind’s blowing 30 miles-per-hour, I’m hitting driver down the wrong side of the fairway into trees,” he said. “I’m in the wrong place all day.

“This year I came in thinking, ‘Just get the ball in the fairway so you can hit irons and attack pins,” he said. “My irons have been solid so far.”

Reed, whose been in some big championship-golf moments, is aware of all the golf left and all the players wanting to be where he is. He’s also aware that he’s currently where they aren’t, and has played well the past two days.

“I just have to stick to my game plan,” he said. “Get the ball in the fairway off the tee and give yourself a chance to attack and make putts and score.”

No one but Leishman was scoring in the early morning, and as the day rolled along and the greens stayed moisture-free and winds picked up, you’d have thought it would stay that way. Instead, some scores went down and others up.

“Part of how it works here,” said Matt Kuchar, who shot a scrambling 75 after an opening 68, “is there’s a fine line between birdies and bogeys.” He was the co-leader at 3-under when he hit over the green and into the azaleas Friday at 12.

Every player asked said the same thing about the conditions: fair, pretty much the same for everyone, but challenging.

“(The course) was softer yesterday, not as much wind, and the wind was blowing in the same direction yesterday, so it was easier to get a gist on exactly what it’s doing,” said Tony Finau. “Today I couldn’t tell if it was south, southwest…it was teetering all over the place. I hit some quality shots on the back, I just wasn’t getting rewarded.”

The only explanation for the scoring or lack of it is that some guys were playing well and/or scrambling well, and some weren’t.

The urban myth is that The Masters has outlawed patrons screaming “Dilly Dilly,” but maybe the tournament wants to look at making them scream it if they want Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, who played a sentimental practice round together Tuesday, to contend. For that pair, it’s been not enough dilly dilly and too much dilly dally this week on property these two dearly love and in a tournament they’ve won a combined seven times.

Three-time Masters champion Mickelson shot 79 and will start in the third group Saturday at plus-5. Friday he tripled 9 after pulling his drive, then hit a tree squarely when he tried to play his drive from under a bush. On 12, another pull put him in the water.

“On the first hole I blocked (my drive) and I was a little worried the rest of the round,” he said. “And that was kind of the case; I didn’t quite have it again.”

Woods is at 4-over (73-75), has not been in control of his irons—he went over on 4, 5, 6, and 7 during one stretch Friday—and has not putted well. Interest of the golfing public is soaring because of Woods’ first Masters appearance since 2015—CBS showed every one of his shots Friday and not one of Jordan Speith’s, the first-round leader—and many felt Woods would contend. Right now he is 13-shots back and could not even beat his Thursday-Friday playing partners, Leishman and Tommy Fleetwood.

Speith, the leader by two after an opening-round 66, played the first two holes Friday like me and the final 16 like Jordan Speith, thank goodness, to finish with a two-over 74. He sliced his opening drive right of right, took two more swings to get to the fringe and three more to get down for a double-bogey 6, then bogeyed 2, a birdie hole, with a three-putt. He bogeyed 7, then birdied both par 5s on the back to right the ship.

He’ll play in the third group Saturday with Dustin Johnson, who hurt his back when he slipped in the driveway of his rented home here on the eve of last year’s tournament. Johnson shot 73 Thursday but 68 with an eagle on 2 Friday.

They’ll be right ahead of Justin Thomas (74-667) and Finau (68-74), who was in second place after the opening round. Behind them are two other interesting pairings, Rickie Fowler (70-72)/Louis Oosthuizen (71-71) and Justin Rose (72-70)/Bubba Watson (73-69).

Roy McIlroy (69-71) goes off next-to-last before Reed and Leishman and is paired with Swede Henrick Stenson (69-70). McIlroy had three bogeys on the front but a pair of birdies on both the front and back for a 71, shares fourth place and summed up and much as anyone what it takes to win here, just about any year and in any weather against any competition.

“Stay patient,” he said. “Birdie the par 5s. Keep your putts on the high side of the hole.

“Hope for the best.”

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(Check out the Daily Happen for 2018 Masters Notes. The Daily Happen is batting in the five hole at DesignatedWriters.com)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Lack of confidence doesn’t appear to be an issue in Sunday’s showdown round at the 2018 Masters.

Three shots separate leader Patrick Reed at minus-14 and Rory McIlroy at minus-11. No one who follows golf can forget their fun, raucous back-and-forth match in Sunday singles in the 2016 Ryder Cup the United States won at Minnesota’s Hazeltine National Golf Club. Reed beat McIlroy 1-up; those two were their team’s best players all weekend.

In a prelude to Sunday’s Masters final round, Reed shot a 67 Saturday and McIlroy shot one of three 65s posted during an afternoon when rain and clouds softened the greens and gave players a chance to go low. Rickie Fowler had one of those and is at minus-9, thanks to a hot putter since Thursday and his first bogeyless round at the Masters Saturday, and fearless young Spaniard John Rahm, at minus-8, had the other.

Henrik Stenson had a solid 70 Saturday and is in semi-striking distance at minus-7, but such ho-hum steadiness mean squat on a day reserved for heroics.

Reed led by two going into Saturday’s moving day at the Masters, and move they did, including Reed. His 67 pushed the lead to three, boosted by eagles on 13 and 15 and flowered-up by five birdies; his bogeys came on 3 and the second-nine’s two par 3s, which included a three-putt from 45 feet on 16. He rebounded with pars on 17 and 18. Today he’ll try to become the first Masters competitor ever to shoot four rounds in the 60s.

As marvelous as the round was for a 27-year-old with a solid professional record but no majors—especially considering eight winners of majors trailed him by no more than seven shots when the day began—it was far from the finest round of the day. Those belong to the guys who own the trio of 65s sitting right behind Reed on the leaderboard.

The most confident of the trio has got to be McIlroy, who is trying to become the sixth player to win the game’s Grand Slam, joining Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus, and Woods.

“My game’s in fantastic shape; I have every shot that’s needed to win out here,” he said. “There’s no reason I can’t go out and shoot a great round tomorrow.

“Patrick’s got the lead,” McIlroy said. “He’s got to sleep on that.”

“I guess the pressure’s on me; I’ve got the lead,” Reed said with a smile. “I didn’t wake up this morning feeling any pressure. The key is execution. Just come out here and play golf. I’m not playing Rory; I’m playing the golf course.

“Hopefully,” he said, “we’ll get some fireworks going out there and have some fun tomorrow.”

A flashback to Hazeltine came in mid-afternoon Saturday. McIlroy played bogey-free with five birdies Saturday and an eagle on 8, a feat which momentarily tied him with Reed, who stood in 8 fairway in the group’s final pairing and heard the roars over the humps that guard the dogleg par-5. “Sure,” Reed said, “I knew what had happened.”

But he also knew he had a chance at birdie on the same green. A few minutes later, he made it to retake the lead. He birdied 9 and 10, too. After McIlroy’s eagle on 8, Reed played the next 11 holes in 5-under; McIlroy played them in 2-under.

Fowler has made five putts of 20-feet or more in the first 54 holes, best in the field. He left a birdie putt on 18 an inch short in the jaws; before that came an eagle on 2, birdies on 5, 6, 8, 15, and 17. He’s looking for his first major championship and playing the best he’s played here since he tied for fifth in 2014.

Rahm’s highlights included two birdies out of the chute, then a chip-in eagle on 8 and birdies on 10, 16, and 17.

“I’ve shot 7-under before,” he said, “but not at a place like this. That’s my first round that good in a major, in a place where Spanish history is good. You know, Seve and Sergio.”

Speaking of good players and majors winners, Jordan Speith, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Justin Thomas couldn’t take advantage of the scoring conditions; each shot 71 except Thomas, who shot 70. Any are capable of shooting a 63 to tie the tournament’s course record, but it won’t be enough Sunday.

In 1956, Jack Burke Jr. came from eight shots back in the final round to defeat amateur Ken Venturi.

In 1996, Nick Faldo rallied from a six-shot deficit, aided by a Greg Norman meltdown, to win his third green jacket.

And in 2011, Charl Schwartzel trailed McIlroy by four shots after 54 holes but birdied the final four for the victory. He got a lot of help from McIlroy, who shot 37-43 for an 80 and finished 10 back.

That’s the historical note that matters Sunday in what’s basically a two-horse race. But what a fun two horses.

“This is my first final group here since 2011,” McIlroy said. “I hope I learned a lot from that day. I hope I can come in Sunday and spoil the party.”

McIlroy has won four majors since then. But…

Reed has the lead. By three. Sunday is the encore. And the way this pair and the guys lurking are playing…

“Whatever happens,” Reed said, “it’s going to be a fight.”

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