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Bryson DeChambeau back in the game after shooting his own version of Masters par

Golf’s biggest hitter finally cards the 67 he thought would be straightforward at Augusta National and charges up the leaderboard on day two.

Bryson DeChambeau set himself up for a fall when claiming in last November's Masters that par for him on Augusta National's tough par 72 was 5-under 67.

It didn't go down well. Social media poured scorn, the men in Green Jackets raised an eyebrow and, inevitably, the golfing gods plotted revenge.

DeChambeau failed to get near his own personal par in that 2020 Masters as rounds of 70-74-69-73 left him in tied 34th.

The 67 looked even further away in round one on Thursday. DeChambeau got it all wrong and limped to a 4-over 76.

That left him a massive 11 shots behind leader Justin Rose and in danger of missing the cut.

But while Rose shot actual par (72) on Friday, DeChambeau cut that deficit to six, finally backing up his own words and shooting the 67 he had promised in November.
There's still a sense that Augusta National is winning this particular fight. But at 1-under for the tournament after 36 holes, Bryson feels he's back in the game.

And the bookies agree. After being way down the betting at start of play, DeChambeau is now 25/1 with Paddy Power to win the Green Jacket.

Here are his stats and what he said after Friday's excellent round which vaulted him into the top 20:

Bryson DeChambeau stats

Fairways hit in R2: 8 of 14

Greens hit in R2: 15 of 18

Sand Saves in R2: 0 of 2

Putting Per GIR: 1.61

On whether he's working the course out

"I don't think you can ever figure this place out. There's so many things going on around here. The wind makes it diabolical. It's flying around through these trees and bouncing off the trees and making it feel into the wind when it should be downwind, and vice versa. I don't think you'll ever be able to figure it out, but I've just got to be more comfortable.
Masters

Bryson DeChambeau reacts to a poor tee shot at Augusta National

"Honestly for me it was just execution. There were times I didn't execute again. For some reason every year I get here, I'm playing pretty well coming in and I don't execute the way I want to. Today was nice to be able to get it back and shoot 5-under, get myself somewhat in contention.
"The weekend, anything can happen if I go 5-under, 5-under, maybe even more than that, you never know. I view it as I've got eight great shots at some par-5s if I hit the driver well, and I think I make a couple birdies on some par-4s and take it easy on the difficult holes, I'll be fine."

On solving a bit more of the puzzle today

"Yeah, especially on the putting green. I finally felt like I was seeing lines out there for the first time in five years it feels like, or five times I've played it in tournament conditions. That excites me for sure.

"I think if I could just ball strike it a little bit better. Felt like my iron play was great. We didn't hit it long too many times today. I was proud of that. If I can keep myself positive, in a positive mindset and towards making a lot of birdies, you never know."

On how difficult it is to back up a low round with another

"Well, I'll tell you, even my round today I had a lot of great things happen to me. There was definitely a lot of lucky breaks I had. For the most part whenever somebody shoots a really, really low score, you're going to have to have good breaks to go low, and sometimes golf is not friendly, and it can turn on you real quick. You may hit a great shot that's just going right at the flag and the wind turns or something happens and albeit you hit a perfect shot for the conditions at hand, it just didn't go next to the hole that time, and then there are times where you mis-hit a shot and it ends up right next to the hole. For example, 18 I mis-hit a shot way right and I had a clear shot to the green, hit it up there close.

"I think that's why it's so difficult is that it's just variable. Golf is a variable game."

On whether he's been ribbed over his 'par is 67' comments

"Oh, no. I even said in my presser, clearly the par was 74 for me last year. But I would say for the most part, I think this golf course is an amazing and spectacular, challenging venue and championship. I think one of the most amazing things about this place is that it can turn on you real quick when you least expect it. For example, last year in November you had a lot of guys going low, and this year it's not the case. Hats off to Augusta National for what they've done to the place."

On Augusta National being so hard to figure out

"It's my biggest match for sure. I mean, not having the help that sometimes I have on the golf course at other venues with greens books and not having the calibration tools that I usually use, it's definitely a test and something I'm willing to stand up to and try and face the challenge and try and conquer it. It's an interesting challenge for me, and I love it."

On the confidence gained from Friday's 67

"It's a massive help this week. If I barely made the cut or -- maybe I'm not thinking this way. Maybe I'm thinking, hey, I can get after it on the weekend and have a chance to win, but I've got to shoot low, and so I think that making that putt on 18, making the putt on 17, those were huge momentum plays for me where I feel like I can go out tomorrow and shoot a good number a little earlier than the leaders and put myself in a great spot for Sunday."

On whether he's tried too hard to play well at Augusta

"Probably. There was numerous times where I feel like -- for example, No. 2 is an 8-iron right to the middle of the green and I block it right into the bunker, the one place you can't go to not make birdie. Sometimes I'm trying to force things in certain areas, and as time went on I got a little more comfortable saying, hey, over here is fine. I feel like as time goes on, I'll continue to learn those little things and make sure that I'm not making the simple mistakes that cost me having a chance."

On finding distance control confusing at Augusta

"My adrenaline goes up obviously on the golf course, and that helps me hit it a little farther, and on the range yesterday, I just wasn't swinging as fast as I usually do, and then I got out here and I was hitting it farther and we had accounted for numbers that were on the range and I was swinging it slower. I felt like I was more in control of the pace of my golf swing today on 10:30 shots, 10:00 shots, and we were able to dial in the numbers a little bit better."

READ MORE: Social Zone: A Masters ace, Rose's heroics shot-by-shot and a 2003 throwback

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