Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

What a day eh?

England's Justin Rose remains the leader of the Masters going into the weekend at eight under par and Rory McIlroy roared back into contention and is now just two strokes off the lead.

The Northern Irishman's bogey-free six-under 66 was the lowest round on Friday.

Bryson DeChambeau is one shot adrift of Rose, with the top of the leaderboard absolutely stacked with big names, like world number one Scottie Scheffler, who is in a cluster of players at five under.

Make sure you join us on Saturday for live text commentary on round three on the BBC Sport website, with in-play clips from 18:00 BST.

There also be live radio commentary on 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 21:00.

See you all then.

More from Rory McIlroy on his recovery from a disappointing finish to round one: "I feel like I did a good job of resetting. I had a good conversation with [sports psychologist] Bob Rotella this morning, mostly around not pushing too hard too early and trying to get those shots back straight away.

"And you can see how I started today with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. I just tried to stay really, really patient.

"I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round."

On what performance 'proved' today: "I don't think I proved anything. If anything, I just backed up the belief that I have in myself that I'm as resilient as anyone else out here.

"I've been really proud of how resilient I've been the whole way throughout my career, and I think today was just another example of that."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, also nipped into the media centre earlier after shooting six under par on day two to put himself right back in the mix near the top of the Masters leaderboard: "Overall, I'm just proud of myself with how I responded today after the finish last night. I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday, and I wasn't going to let two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week.

"Championship golf can be volatile. The conditions can be tough. You can just start -- and the momentum can start to go the wrong way on you. But we're all great players. We're playing in the Masters. You know, we're all capable of shooting good scores."

On not speaking to the media after making two double bogeys in his final four holes on Thursday: "I rushed out of here to get home to see [his daughter] Poppy before she went to bed. So that was sort of nice to get to see her before she went to sleep.

"I guess that's something that I didn't have a few years ago, to be able to get home and have that sort of, you know, take my mind off the golf a little bit.once I left the property last night, I just sort of tried to leave what had happened here."

Image source, Getty Images

Leader Justin Rose on competing at the Masters after going close to his second major victory at the PGA Championship and The Open in 2024:

"Sometimes you've just got to knock on the door. I don't think I can do anything differently.

"If it was a secret recipe, you'd know it by now. But it's about just playing great golf. And I think the leaderboard is stacking up very favorably for what looks like world-class players right up there.

"So you're going to have to play great golf, and you're going to have to go out there and want it and go for it and get after it. It's as simple as that, really."

On holding his own against world leaders Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau this week: "That's the company that I expect to keep, and that's where I have tried to be my whole career. I've been a top 10 player in the world for a decade or more.

"So yeah, this is nice to be back in that mix."

Tyrrell Hatton's effort from across pretty much the width of the 18th green is tracking nicely. A bit too much juice though and the ball doesn't turn enough to trouble the hole. He'll have five feet for par.

Back to Tom Kim. He sets his par putt out to the left and it just doesn't come back. But a tap-in bogey and he's in for the final two rounds.

Hatton makes no mistake and despite a couple of bogeys on 16 and 17 is in decent shape.

And finally, Jordan Spieth knocks in a putt I could have made. No idea why he needed to mark that. He too makes the weekend.

Here's Tom Kim chipping up from 30 yards and he skips his effort in close. He'll have two putts from six feet to make the weekend.

Back to Jordan Spieth. He's stalking the green, checking out all the slopes, chuntering to Michael Greller, as he always does between every shot. It looks pretty straight. It's going to be glacially slow. He gives it a biff. And that wanders off in the last five feet to leave him 18 inches to tidy up. He marks it and waits for Tyrrell Hatton.

Jordan Spieth needs to chill a little here. He zips his wedge from around 80 yards in towards the flag but he gets too much action on his ball and it spins back down the slope. He slams his club into his bag as he collects his putter. Two from 30 feet up the hill and he'll have two more rounds.

Jordan Spieth and Tom Kim need to get in the hole in no worse than five shots on the 18th to make sure they're in for the weekend.

"I'm so frustrated man," says Jordan Spieth to his caddie Michael Greller as he discusses whether to go nine-iron or wedge. He can't reach the green after his tee shot caught a branch and pulled up behind a tree.

Kim and Tyrrell Hatton are both hugging the right edge of the fairway. Hatton up first and he's gone back right of the green. He's on the same level as the hole, about 40 feet away though.

Kim punches his wedge to the front of the green and it trundles back a few more feet towards him. A good 30 yards up the green for the South Korean.

Good touch, Decent speed. But no birdie finish for JT.

Scottie Scheffler is chipping from off the back of the 18th but plays it superbly. He'll have a bogey putt from about two feet and in it goes.

That could have been so much worse. The defending champion will only be three strokes back overnight.

We've pretty much all been where Scottie Scheffler is right now and there's a huge crash of tree branches as his ball pops out sideways onto the fairway.

He'll play his third 194 yards from the pin but he skips that right through the green.

His ball is travelling and could have easily flown another 20 yards on but for hitting a patron and bouncing back.

Oh wow. If the putt on 16 was going to mess with Tyrrell Hatton's mind, the one he's just missed on 17 is going to cause it to melt.

He lagged the 20-foot birdie putt up to around 18 inches but has somehow lipped out with his par putt. And it's gone about eight feet away.

The Englishman is just staring at the ground where his ball was in complete disbelief. Could be an interesting press conference coming up. I wonder which brave journalist will be the first to ask him a question?

The bogey putt is holed. Thankfully.

Scottie Scheffler's ball looks to be under a huge low-lying tree branch.

By the sounds of it he reckons he can definitely get a club on it but he'll be almost down on his hands and knees to play this.

"Is there a rules official around", he asks, while still sat under a magnolia tree.

Meanwhile, JT gets on with things and plays an excellent approach up the left side of the green.

Oh my word that is dreadful. The patrons are told to keep still to avoid causing shadows in the fading Augusta sunlight but Scottie Scheffler absolutely larrups his ball way left anyway.

His ball is obscured by the trees. Will he even have a shot out of there?

JT's drive also tracks left but it skirts with the left edge of the fairway before bouncing in the first cut.

An outside birdie chance awaits Tyrrell Hatton when he reaches the 17th green after he follows a fairway-finding drive with a smart wedge into the heart of the green.

Maybe a 20-footer left.

That was a bit of a push from JT. It was hardly a smooth putting stroke at all and his ball hurries towards the cup but stays well right.

Scottie Scheffler drops his in from half the distance and all of a sudden the world number one is back at two under for Friday and six under overall.

Jason Day finally makes a bogey.

He gives his putt every chance but his ball stays right and the Australian offers a wry smile.

Jason Day has not dropped a single shot yet.

He is now playing his 36th hole of the competition but the former US PGA champion has a bit of tree trouble down the 18th and is forced to punch out.

He loops his third into 13 feet and will need to drain his par putt to become the only player to be bogey free through two rounds at the Masters since Ed Sneed in 1979.

This was the moment when the Rory McIlroy comeback started to get real.

Tyrrell Hatton is doing well to keep a lid on his emotions right now. He looks like he might explode after he doesn't give his 50-foot putt up and across the ridge that runs across the 16th green enough juice and his ball wanders forlornly back towards the front of the green. He's still 30 feet away but at least straight uphill.

Jordan Spieth gives him a good read, knocking his 18 inches past the hole. What has Hatton learned? Well, he's short of pace again. By about three feet.

Tom Kim has a comfortable two-putt par.

Hatton for par. Nailed. Shot gone though.

Sublime stuff.

Scottie Scheffler maybe has a wedge in hand as he zips into around five feet. A birdie now would be very welcome indeed for the defending champion.

Meanwhile, JT also stiff his approach into around 12 feet and should have a decent look at birdie from that spot.