Patrick Smith

By Christopher Powers
As we saw on Thursday, Bryson DeChambeau’s swing-for-the-fences strategy is great when it works, but it can also lead to a world of trouble. On Friday, though, it was a seemingly great tee shot at the par-4 third hole that caused the reigning U.S. Open champion to make his worst score of the week so far.

After making par at Augusta National’s opening hole, DeChambeau got rolling with a birdie at the second, set up by an incredible 380-yard tee shot. He wailed away again with driver at the short par-4 third, which he was reportedly driving during practice rounds. He pulled it a bit off line, but it caught the “second cut.”

That’s when all hell broke loose. DeChambeau and a massive search party were unable to find the ball, despite the fact it TV cameras caught it landing only a few yards into the second cut. It’s unclear if it plugged, or if they were just looking in the wrong place. As the search continued, a rule official told DeChambeau he had “30 seconds left,” meaning two and a half minutes of the three minutes you’re allotted to locate the ball had passed. DeChambeau then asked, “so you’re saying if we can’t find it, it’s a lost ball?”

After being informed that it would be a lost ball, he took 30 more seconds to try and find it, but to no avail. Per rule 27-1, DeChambeau had to go back to where the original shot was played, which was the tee box. A brutal break. Here’s a look at the search party:

Golf fans might recall that this did happen on Sunday at Winged Foot to Harris English, who lost his ball in the left rough on the first hole and had to go back to the tee. It’s somewhat stunning to see it happen at Augusta National, where the second cut is normally not nearly as hairy as it is this year.

DeChambeau’s third shot found the second cut down the left side again, but this time they were able to find it. He went on to make a disastrous triple-bogey 7, causing him to fall all the way back to even par.

Ed’s Note: When darkness halted play on Friday night Georgia time, DeChambeau was three-over in his second round through 12 holes and at +1 for the championship. The projected cut is even par.

More from Friday at the 2020 Masters
• Tiger Woods loses momentum, but holds on to his green jacket chances
• Abraham Ancer continues to prove that he’s a big-time player, he’s just missing one thing
• Bryson DeChambeau in danger of missing cut after disastrous third hole
• Jon Rahm hilariously (perhaps inadvertently) burns Bryson DeChambeau with two simple words
• Rory McIlroy had about as terrible a Friday morning as you could imagine at Augusta National
• Why these five guys are going to have an especially restless Friday night in Augusta
• Brooks Koepka’s play has been ‘super sloppy’ and he can still win
• Alert! Augusta National legend Jeff Knox has been called into action earlier than usual this week!
• Justin Thomas broke his odd Masters curse
• Bernhard Langer keeps building on the sneakiest good record in Masters history
• Bryson DeChambeau lost his ball in Augusta’s second cut, which we all figured was impossible
• Why you shouldn’t be surprised about Rory McIlroy’s up-and-down start at Augusta
• What you think about Dustin Johnson says more about you than him
• Who needs a driver at Augusta? Danny Willett cracks his, uses 3-wood off tee and shoots career low
• How the 36-hole cut is determined at Augusta National
• Bernhard Langer has become the oldest golfer to make the cut in the Masters