Dustin Johnson felt he was "on a good roll" heading into the second round of the Masters on Friday and so it initially proved.
The world number one had been required to turn out early in the morning to finish his first 18 holes and improved from three under through nine to seven under at the finish, seizing a share of the lead with Paul Casey and Dylan Frittelli.
He finished with three birdies across the final four holes of the first round and had time only for a brief pause before heading back out to start again.
"To continue to play is definitely a nice advantage," he said. "Obviously we know how the golf course is playing. We've already played nine holes this morning."
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Sure enough, after making par as he teed off once more from the 10th, Johnson rattled off three straight birdies to build a three-stroke lead at 10 under.
Having already beaten his best ever score at Augusta over the opening 18 holes, further improvement still was in Johnson's sights in a low-scoring week.
In the first round of the Masters Tournament, there were 53 under-par scores and 24 scores in the 60s, both tournament records for any round.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) November 13, 2020
Previous records
Under-par scores: 47 (R2/1992)
Scores in the 60s: 20 (three times) #theMasters
But then the top-ranked star, aiming to become the first world number one to win the Masters since Tiger Woods in 2002, started to stutter.
A bogey at 14 was followed by a trip into the water on the next hole.
Johnson reached the turn back at eight under and had company once again, Im Sung-jae joining the leader.
Justin Thomas briefly had a slice of first place, too, until he double-bogeyed the first – his 10th – after hitting a tree to fall back.
Frittelli was moving in the wrong direction, one over through nine, but Brooks Koepka sustained the form he found late in the first to move to five under.
Also on the climb in Johnson's group was Rory McIlroy, whose Masters hopes had again looked remote as he completed 18 holes in 75.
McIlroy found birdies at 10, 12, 15 and 17 to move into the red for the first time this week, then letting out a laugh as he nailed his tee shot at the 18th, although he had to settle for making the turn bogey-free at one under.