SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Robert MacIntyre added the Valero Texas Open this year to be sharp for the Masters, and he looked every bit of that Friday with four birdies in his last five holes for an 8-under 64 and a four-shot lead over Ryder Cup teammate Ludvig Aberg.
MacIntyre felt comfortable with his swing from start, taking advantage of a back nine that included a hybrid that rolled out to 8 feet for eagle on the par-5 14th.
What made the difference was his finish, with all four of the Scot’s birdies from 10 feet or closer.
He was in the same group as Aberg, whose 67 included holing out with a wedge from 120 yards for eagle on the par-4 sixth. The Swede’s only disappointing was missing the fairway on his final hole at No. 9 and three-putting from 100 feet.
MacIntyre was at 14-under 130.
“I didn’t play last year, just went straight into Augusta. This was an adjustment for that reason,” MacIntyre said. “I wanted to be sharp — or sharper — going into Augusta.”
The Texas Open is the last chance for so many others to get into the Masters with a win, though MacIntyre is starting to make those odds seem a little bit longer.
Tony Finau, who hasn’t missed the Masters since 2017, was one shot out of the lead going into the second round when he had three bogeys in six holes at the start. He had to rally for a 69, which included a 35-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th. That put him five shots behind, along with Kevin Roy, Bud Cauley and Thorbjorn Olesen.
“It was nice to make an eagle on the last,” Finau said. “I hit a really good drive, pushed my second shot a little, got lucky, covered the water and was able to roll that one in. Sometimes those are the small little breaks that you need to be towards the top of the leaderboard.”
Mark Hubbard, who led after 18 holes with a 65, followed that with a 77 to make the cut on the number at 2-under 142. He went from one shot ahead to 12 shots behind.
Aberg said he has moved on from his rough back nine that cost him at The Players Championship two weeks ago. He has another chance over the final 36 holes at the TPC San Antonio, and that’s all that mattered to him.
“I feel great. I feel like I’ve been playing good golf,” Aberg said. “For me, golf is about putting yourself in situations where you can win tournaments. I feel like I haven’t really done that very well the last 12 months or so, but starting to see it now, which has been really nice. So I’m looking forward to one more shot at it this week.”
MacIntyre is trying to become the third straight left-handed player to win the Texas Open, following Brian Harman last year and Akshay Bhatia in 2024.