The Masters: Justin Thomas has adventurous day on Friday

Justin Thomas had to play 26 holes at the Masters on Friday. It was an up-and-down day but it ended well for Thomas, who is contention through 36 holes.

Friday was an up-and-down day for Justin Thomas at the Masters. After darkness halted round one on Thursday, Thomas was forced to finish his first round early Friday morning, then almost immediately turn around and play his second round.

When play was stopped on Thursday, Thomas was 5-under par through 10 holes. When he resumed the round on Friday morning, Thomas immediately faced Amen Corner, a tough starting spot for anyone, but he navigated it will all pars. In fact, he played eight holes to complete his first round Friday morning and he had seven pars and one birdie, which came at the par-5 15th hole.

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That left Thomas with a 6-under par 66. He was one shot behind Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson after 18 holes.

Thomas started his second round on the back nine and it didn’t start particularly well. He bogeyed the 10th hole to start his round before pars at the 11th and 12th holes.

But at the par-5 13th hole, Thomas hooked his drive left and was forced to take a penalty. After getting the ball back into the fairway, he was able to get to the green and in, but not before he recorded his second bogey of the round. That dropped him to 2-over on his round and 4-under for the championship.

It also seemed to get Thomas motivated. He would par the 14th hole before going on a run.

That started with a birdie at the par-5 15th hole. On the 16th hole, his tee shot came to rest about a foot from the cup, setting up another birdie. He was back to 6-under par.

On the 17th hole, Thomas made a 10-foot, uphill putt for another birdie to get to 7-under for the championship. Then on 18, he hit a brilliant approach, landing about a foot from the cup for another easy birdie. That was four in a row for Thomas, who made the turn at 2-under for the round and 8-under for the championship.

Just when it appeared that he had all of the momentum in his favor, Thomas’ tee shot on the first went into the trees. His second shot then hit a tree, shooting directly across the fairway. His third shot hit the green but trickled off the back. And his fourth, a chip from behind the green, narrowly missed going in. However, it also went down the hill, leaving Thomas about 25 feet up the hill for a bogey. He missed and suffered a double bogey. He slipped back to 6-under.

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Thomas was able to bounce back with a nice birdie on the par-5 second hole to get one shot back. From there, he would record five straight pars.

He did finish in style, with birdies at the eighth and ninth holes, giving him a 3-under round of 69 and, at the time he finished, a share of the lead. It was an up-and-down day for Thomas but it ended with him in contention to win his first green jacket.

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