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Xander Schauffele has quietly gone about his business today and a second birdie at the 10th sends him four under.

The American capitalises on a bold tee shot which goes skims the trees and then clinically slides in a putt down the hill from the edge of the green.

A tip of the cap from Schauffele to acknowledge the patrons.

Kristoffer Reitan is not the most celebrated Norwegian in the field but with his compatriot Viktor Hovland with plenty to do, he might be the only one still around come Saturday and Sunday.

Consecutive birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th holes have very much put him in a position to contend near the top of the leaderboard on his Masters bow.

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England's Aaron Rai, speaking after carding a two-over 74 in the second round: "I started off really nicely. Played a lot of nice golf on the front nine. Just a couple of mistakes really around the turn. Felt like I hit good shots. Just a little bit off in judgment of wind. Started unfortunately with a couple of bounces, and it's very easy for a couple of shots to get away from you here.

"Very pleased with the consistency of play coming in after that. Hit a lot of good shots, and actually had some chances to be at least a couple of shots better. So, yeah, overall a little bit mixed. Played a lot better than the score, but yeah, still in a good place after two days overall."

Get in. A huge roar greets Tommy Fleetwood's move to four under as he sinks a putt from just inside 20 feet.

While the Englishman is walking off to the 11th with a spring in his step Akshay Bhatia is seething.

The American, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March can't find the green with his second, with his initial approach slipping back down the slope. And then chips well past the flag and takes three with his flatstick.

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Jon Rahm has been speaking about his poor tournament so far: "Just one of the things where it's golf. I felt really good all year besides yesterday. Actually felt pretty good today as well.

"Yesterday was just an anomaly where everything that could go wrong went wrong.

"Not that I shot myself out of the tournament but I'm going to need an absolute miracle starting today, and didn't quite do enough.

"I'm going to need a heck of a round tomorrow to give myself a chance and even then, might be a little too far away."

At four over Rahm is bang on the cut line but with 47 players on three over there is still a chance he may not make the weekend.

Rory McIlroy has played the eighth poorly and faces a 50-foot putt for birdie from the back fringe on the par-five.

It's tracking well. It has a chance...but misses agonisingly on the left. That would have produced a massive roar but it's a par, snapping his run of par-five birdies this week.

He's just looked a little out-of-sorts over the past half an hour, but he still has a two-shot lead.

Jason Day plays safe at the 11th, bailing out to the right of the green to steer well clear of the drink.

He opts to take a fairway metal from just off the green and play it like a long putt. It's a smart option when it comes off but it's a poor strike and his par putt shaves the hole.

First bogey of the day.

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Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick is starting to find a little bit rhythm to his game at the end of the front nine.

Fitzpatrick picked up his first birdie of the round on the eighth hole and then follows it up with another on the ninth.

A marvellous chip on the green leaves the 31-year-old with five-foot putt and he duly rolls it in with a minimum of fuss.

There's barely a flicker of emotion from Fitzpatrick as the crowd show their appreciation.

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Rory McIlroy is yet to hit a fairway on a par-five this week and that doesn't change at the eighth as he hangs it out to the right.

His ball plumps down into the bunker, just as it did on the second.

Lay-up time, but up against the steep face of the trap, he can't advance his ball all that far and faces a lengthy third from 178 yards.

Oh dear, his hand comes off the club at impact and it's long and left. He'll do well to make a five now.

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Tyrrell Hatton, as he typically does, played down his performance today despite shooting 66 - focusing on his bogey at the last: "Today was a great day.

"Actually walking up 18 I was pretty confident that I couldn't mess it up enough that I wouldn't shoot my best score here.

"Naturally I tried with a three-putt, so that was disappointing, to say the least. But I certainly would have taken six under before I went out."

On playing so well on a course he usually struggles with: "For me it felt like a bit of a surprise I actually got it to seven under around this golf course with how I've previously struggled.

"I was obviously enjoying it. It was nice to be at that score and not hacking it round and over par like I generally do around here. I guess it was nice for a change."

On how tough Augusta will be this weekend: "I think the greens are just going to get firmer and faster, which is quite a scary prospect, because I feel like the 15th green can't really get much firmer than what it is."

What a great day for England's Marco Penge.

He scribbles a three-under 69 on his card and will be in action at the weekend in his first ever Masters.

He caps a fine round with a birdie from 16 feet on the 18th after having to negotiate his way around a low-hanging tree branch with his approach.

After that snowman on the second and being five over at the turn on Thursday, he has rallied brilliantly.

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A rollercoaster of a round for Bryson DeChambeau so far.

He makes it back-to-back birdies at the eighth after a brilliant chip on to the green from a tricky lie on the edge of the fairway.

DeChambeau goes close with the eagle putt from 23 feet before sealing the birdie.

Two bogeys and now a third birdie for the American heading into the final hole of the front nine.

Li Haotong can't stop smiling. The 30-year-old from China, who brought a few laughs in a recent interview when he said he thought Brad Faxon [an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour] was a "low-handicap amateur" the first time they played together, has birdied the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th holes.

And he now saves par from the edge of the 17th green.

How close is that? Patrick Reed's birdie putt on the ninth is one roll shy of dropping.

And ditto Tommy Fleetwood's. Both stroll onto the back nine rueing a stroke that's got away from them there.

Well, McIlroy shouldn't have been in the bunker in the first place but he splashes his third shot out expertly and avoids a second bogey in three holes.

Par-five eighth coming up.

Sam Burns lingers to glare at the hole on the 11th in disbelief.

The 29-year-old skims the lip with a short putt of barely five feet.

A bogey leaves him three behind the lead.

Scottie Scheffler hasn't had much luck on the greens today and another birdie try slides centimetres by. It's a two-over-par round for the world number one but he's far from out of this.

Gary Woodland finishes with a birdie to ensure he'll be around for the weekend.

Can Bob MacIntyre finish off in similar style? Nope. His ball dribbles left. It's a one-under-par round but the damage was done on day one and that double bogey on the opening hole of this second round.

Rory McIlroy struggled with the driver yesterday but he's been dialled in so far today.

He's left himself just 98 yards at the seventh, but that's woefully short and it bounces into the bunker at the front of the green. That wasn't even close to his landing spot. With a wedge in hand, that's a real puzzler.

After the unforced error at the fifth, a bit of uncertainty is starting to creep into his game.

Robert MacIntyre shows his playing partners the way on 18 with a super second that sidles down the slope above the hole to leave him about an eight-footer to finish with a birdie.

Scottie Scheffler is on a similar line but a couple of feet further away, while Gary Woodland hits the best shot of them all from a fairway bunker.