Masters Debutantes – 8 Rookies Who Made the Cut

Round 1 – 72   Round 2 – 72  Leaderboard Status – T8

It’s no surprise that Bryson DeChambeau is leading two overlapping groups – amateurs in the field and first-time Masters contenders. He’s been preparing his game for almost a year, since he earned his automatic invite by winning the 2015 US Amateur Championship last August.

He’s been practicing – he’s described the last six months as an “internship” – finishing runner-up at the 2015 Australian Masters, teeing it up across the Middle East at European Tour events in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

He’s intrigued golf fans and commentators alike with his single-length irons and his scientifically-driven theories of how to play the game. Some have characterized him at the golf scientist. He’s certainly approached this week at Augusta National, his final appearance as a amateur, in a scientific fashion, making a preliminary foray in December and playing some practice rounds with his father, spending some time in California picking Phil Mickelson’s brain.

And he’s delivered an impressive game despite that ugly triple on the 18th Friday afternoon. DeChambeau will be around for the weekend and he’ll start his 3rd round on the front page of the leaderboard!

Next: Daniel Berger