It’s such a long time from August to April as the golfing world is forced to wait for major championship golf to keep us entertained. But it’s April, it’s the Masters and it’s delivering as expected once again.

Round one provided a lot of excitement and an abundance of birdies as players took advantage of soft conditions, moderate hole locations and weather perfect for scoring. Friday provided a much different test for the players, as is often the case when navigating Masters week at Augusta National.

Friday’s Most Impressive Performances 

Fred Couples – At the ripe ole age of 53, Fred Couples has put himself in position to win a 2nd green jacket. Couples is being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May and many have questioned his Hall of Fame worthiness.  A solid weekend at Augusta National will cement his legacy as one of the game’s best ever.

Mark Leishman – Despite posting a score above par, 1-over 73, on Friday, Leishman has to be commended for handling a situation he’d never experienced until Friday. Sleeping on the lead in a major championship can drive the greatest of players crazy and in only his 2nd Masters appearance, Leishman found himself front and center of everyone’s attention. Playing in the afternoon during the more difficult conditions, Leishman held his own and will start the weekend with a share of the lead for the 2nd consecutive day.

Jason Day – Starting the day at 2-under par, Day battled around a very difficult Augusta National as the final pairing on the golf course. Day’s experienced the thrill of being in the hunt on the weekend of the Masters and he’s positioned himself right back in the thick of it again this year.

Angel Cabrera – The 2-time major champion and winner of one Green Jacket, Cabrera improved 19 positions on Friday thanks to a 3-under par, 69. As the conditions are likely to get more difficult as the golf course gets firmer and faster, Cabrera’s high ball flight and length of the tee will benefit him greatly over the weekend.

Jason Dufner – Last year the “Duf” enjoyed the thrill of playing his way into the top spot entering the weekend. Unfortunately back-to-back 75’s left Dufner out of the hunt on Sunday. This time around, he got off to a slower start but by virtue of a 3-under par, 69, the unflappable Dufner will start the weekend inside the top 10.

Tianlang Guan – The kids’ 14 years old, gets assessed a one shot penalty for slow play on the 17th hole and still manages to finish at 4-over par for 36 holes. It’s just simply amazing what the boy has accomplished thus far on a golf course many believed would be too much for the shorter hitting Guan.

Can’t Be To Surprised Category

Sergio Garcia – He shared the over night lead after a first round 66. In his post round press conference, he referenced enjoying this “while it lasted”, not exactly radiating confidence. Sergio’s not exactly the strongest mentally these days and it showed on Friday as he seeming misjudged every gust of wind and struggled to hit solid iron shots when he needed them most.  Nevertheless he’ll start the weekend at 2-under par and very much in contention to win his first major championship.

Dustin Johnson – C’mon man, really? D.J. was cruising along and literally setting the pace on Friday. Walking off the 13th green, Johnson was 7-under par and maintained a 2 shot lead. Unfortunately the wheels came off and came off quickly. Johnson will start the weekend at 1-under par and understandably wondering if he has what it takes on the inside to bounce back from a disastrous final five holes on Friday.

Didn’t really see it coming Category

Matt Kuchar – Kuchar’s won a Players Championship. He’s captured a World Golf Championship. What’s next for the former U.S. Amateur Champion is a Major Championship. Starting the day at 4-under par, Kuchar was able to get as deep as 5-under early in his 2nd round before struggling on the back nine. Kuchar will start the weekend at 1-under par after a 2nd round 75.

Get Me Off This Roller Coaster

Ernie Els started the day at 1-under par and got off to a reasonably good start with a birdie on the par 5, 2nd hole. After giving it back on the par 4, 3rd hole, Els managed to stay at 1-under par until he bogeyed the par 3, 6th. After a bogey on 7, 9, 10 and 11 he found himself at 4-over par and flirting with the cut line. Fortunately for Els, he bounced back with a birdie on 13, eagle on 15 and birdie on 18 to finish the day at 1-over par. Els will likely begin the weekend only 6 or 7 shots out of the lead, close enough for the 4-time major champion to make a run for a coveted Green Jacket.

Sergio Garcia had never led a round at the Masters, until today. A player considered by many to be in the small group of “best players to have never won a major championship” has another great shot to rid himself of this title.

Tiger Woods won for the 77th time on the PGA Tour and the 8th time at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Tiger’s 8 victories at the same event tied a long standing record held by Sam Snead who won 8 Greater Greensboro Opens on his way to a career 82 PGA wins.

Jason Day will be looking to capture his first major championship next week at Augusta National. He discusses his plan for preparation with Tom Auclair of TourPlayers.com.

So what did the winners this week have in their bag?

D.A. Points

PGA Tour: Shell Houston Open
Driver: TaylorMade R11S (9 degree; UST Mamiya VTS Series shaft)
Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Burner 3-wood (13 degree; Graphite Design Tour AD shaft)
Hybrids: TaylorMade R11 Rescue (18 degree; Aldila NV 85x shaft) and Ping G10 (21 degree; Aldila VS Proto 95x shaft)
Irons (4-PW): Ping i5
Wedges: Ping Tour with Gorge Grooves (52 and 58 degree; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts)
Putter: Ping Anser
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Footwear: FootJoy XPS-1
Glove: FootJoy SciFlex
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Marcel Siem

European Tour: Trophée Hassan II
Driver: TaylorMade RBZ Tour (8 degree; Graffaloy Blue shaft)
Fairway Wood: TaylorMade RBZ Tour 3-wood (13 degree; Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 6.2 X shaft)
Irons (3-PW): Mizuno MP-69 (True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts)
Wedges: Mizuno MP T-11 (50 and 54 degree)
Putter: Odyssey Tank
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Footwear: FootJoy Icon
Glove: FootJoy StaSof
Grips: Golf Pride New Decade Multicompound (Red/Black)

Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler will be paired together today for just the second time in a final round. The two were paired together last year on Sunday at the Memorial Tournament, won by woods. Fowler posted 84. The only other Woods/Fowler pairings came in rounds one and two of the 2012 Players Championship and again earlier this season in the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Of his seven Arnold Palmer Invitational wins, this week’s defending champion has held at least a share of the 54-hole lead six times. In second place in 2009, Woods trailed Sean O’Hair by five strokes, but won by one of O’Hair.

In search of his second career PGA Tour win (2012 Wells Fargo Championship), Rickie Fowler posted three birdies on each nine en route to a 5-under 67. He will begin Sunday’s final round two strokes back.

Fowler is making his seventh start of the season this week, with both top-1o finishes, T6s, coming in back-to-back starts at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and Farmers Insurance Open. Fowler posted rounds of 77-65 in the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open, where he was paired with Woods.

Fowler is considered by many to be one of the up and coming future stars of the PGA Tour. During Tiger’s absence from the PGA Tour, while recovering from personal issues and injury, it was Fowler who was among the select few PGA Tour newcomers to assume the media spotlight.

Ultimately for Fowler to realize his potential he’s going to have to slay the dragon. Trailing by two with one round to play, on a golf course Woods has already won 7 times, provides Fowler yet another opportunity to cement himself among golf’s top young stars.

Making his sixth consecutive start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bill Haas improved on an opening-round, 3-under 69 with a bogey-free, 6-under 66 in round two. In the 16 competitive rounds played at Bay Hill prior to round one yesterday, Haas had posted just one score in the 60’s.

Haas’ best finish in this event is a T17 in 2010. Last year, he finished T29. He is in search of his fifth PGA TOUR win and first since the 2012 Northern Trust Open.

In seven starts this year (prior to this week), Haas has collected top-10 finishes in his last three starts. His only missed cut came at the Humana Challenge.

Haas has previously been a leader/co-leader following a round on the PGA TOUR 10 times, two of which were 36-hole leads. The only lead he converted into victory was the 2010 Viking Classic, an event he won in wire-towire fashion. Haas and his wife, Julie, are eight weeks away from the birth of their first child, a boy, to be named William.

Making his fourth start of the season this week, Justin Rose is looking for a third-consecutive top-10 finish. Two weeks ago, he finished T8 at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, a week after taking T4 honors at The Honda Classic.

Rose is making his ninth start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has collected two top-10 finishes (T3/2011 and T8/2006). Last year, he opened with a pair of 69s, but followed with a 74-73 on the weekend to finish T15.

Rose is in search of his fifth PGA TOUR title and first since the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship. Rose has previously been a leader/co-leader 32 times after a round on the PGA TOUR, 10 of which have been after 36 holes. Of his 36-hole leads, two have resulted in victory (2010 AT&T Championship, 2011 BMW Championship).

Since moving to Bay Hill in 1979, 15 36-hole leaders have converted for victory, including the last three champions. So far this season, six of 11 have taken a second-round lead into the winner’s circle. Tiger Woods most recently achieved the feat at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

Of his seven Arnold Palmer Invitational wins, this week’s defending champion has come from behind after the second round three times. In 2001, he was two shots back and T7 after the second round. In 2008, he trailed by seven strokes and was T20 through 36 holes. In 2009, Woods headed into the weekend alone in fifth place, five strokes back. At T7 after 36 holes this week, Woods will begin the weekend at 5-under and four strokes back.

An eighth win for Woods this week would tie the PGA TOUR record held by Sam Snead (Greater Greensboro Open) for  the most wins at a single event. Snead won the Greensboro event in 1938, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1960 and 1965.

Woods has seven wins at four different PGA TOUR events. Sam Snead is the only golfer to ever record eight wins in a single event (Greater Greensboro Open).

• Arnold Palmer Invitational (2000-03, 2008-09, 2012)
• World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
• Farmers Insurance Open (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013)
• World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013)

In addition to Woods with his seven titles, the only other players with multiple victories at the event are Tom Kite (1982, 1989), Loren Roberts (1994-95) and Ernie Els (1998, 2010). Woods missed a 2 foot, 1 inch birdie on the second hole today, just his third miss inside three feet at Bay Hill since 2003. Entering the week, he was 390 for 392 inside three feet here. Speaking of 2003, Woods made a 20 foot, nine inch par putt on the third hole in round two, the longest par saving putt he’s made at Bay Hill also since 2003.

Coming into this week, Woods was a collective 108-under in 15 professional starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Through two rounds, he has extended that to 113-under.

With a victory this week, Woods (10.3483) can overtake Rory McIlroy (11.5013) for the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking. Woods has not held the top spot since October 30, 2010.

Bo Van Pelt sat down with Tom Auclair of TourPlayers.com and VuGolf.net to discuss the significance of this week on the PGA Tour.

Tiger Woods has won five times now over the 2012-2013 PGA Tour season. Rory McIlroy has notched 4 victories during that same time frame on the PGA Tour. If you had to select Tiger or Rory, and you are basing the decision on how they will perform over the next five years, which stock are you buying?

Michael Collins of ESPN joined Dustin Ashby on The Back Nine Radio Show this past Saturday to offer his perspective on the top stories in the world of golf.  Collins, who hosts regular chats on ESPN.com each Monday and Friday throughout the golf season, spoke about Rory McIlroy, the importance of confidence in your equipment and the emergence of young players on the PGA Tour.