He's missed it! Can you believe this? Bubba Watson has done nothing wrong on the back nine, but he slides one past the right of the hole on the last to close with a bogey. Still, he signs for a wonderful 68, and heads to the clubhouse with the lead on seven under.

Oh Bubba, what are you doing to me? His recovery at 18 is absolutely delightful. Down the hill to the right of the green as we look, he's chipping to the top of the slope, with the ball arcing around to within six feet of the hole. He'll have that for par and a round of 67.

Now then, Rory McIlroy is back to where he started. The shot he dropped on the first has been regained with a birdie at the par-four third. The Northern Irishman drove the green, chipped to within three feet, then rolled in to one under. He's seven off.

Left-handers have won five of the last 11 Green Jackets. One of them, Canadian Mike Weir, has birdied seven, eight and nine to go four under for the day and three under overall. He's five off the lead. Another leftie champion, Phil Mickelson, is battling to make the weekend with birdies on 14 and 15. He's back down to five over, with the projected cut having just shifted to four over.

Bubba on the 18th fairway, second to the par four. He doesn't like it - it's drifting left, skipping down the slope and into the patrons. That's a tough up and down to avoid dropping one on the last.

The big left-hander began the year with a T-23 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open and followed that up with a runners-up place and a win at the Northern Trust Open in February - his only success since taking the Green jacket in 2012.

With a further second place at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March after his matchplay defeat at Dove Mountain to flying Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, the world number 12 has hit form at the right time of the season.

Image source, Getty Images

At the moment, the maximum 47 players are missing the cut. Amongst them are Luke Donald, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke and Marc Leishman, who has collapsed from holding the lead at five under to five over at the 16th.

Par on the 17th for Watson means the 2012 champion will not match the seven-consecutive-birdie record of Steve Pate (1999) and Tiger Woods (2005). Not that he'll mind. If Bubba gets in the shed at eight under, he could well be plenty ahead by the time he goes to sleep.

-8 B Watson (US) after 16, -4 Haas (US) 4, -3 Bjorn (Den), K Stadler (US) 12, Walker (US) 6, Choi (Kor) 4.

Selected others:-2 Couples (US) 6; -1 Gallacher (Sco) 1; E Oosthuizen (SA), McIlroy (NI); Donaldson (Wal) 4; +1 Westwood (Eng) 13, Poulter (Eng) 7; +3 Garcia (Spa) 16, McDowell (NI) 6.

Projected cut: +3 and better (top 50 + ties and all within 10 of lead)

Check out the latest leaderboard,, external the tee times and BBC Sport coverage

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A big early blow for Rory McIlroy as the Northern Irishman misses a par putt on the second. From about eight feet, the ball creeps by on the right of the hole, rolling some way past to leave him another tester for bogey. The world number nine tidies up, but, at level par, he is eight behind Bubba Watson.

Ciaran Mcalorum:, external RE 1925: ‏the last time Phil and Tiger didn't play the weekend at Masters? Tanya Harding & OJ Simpson were making headlines (1994)

The cut is coming and only seven British hopes look set to escape it as Bubba Watson lays siege to the Augusta course. Scotland's Stephen Gallacher is best placed on one under in the clubhouse, with Rory McIlroy on the same mark in the early stages of his second round. Welshman Jamie Donaldson is at evens after three holes of round two, while Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are one further back. Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell both on three over, are on course to make the cut, albeit just.

Jay Townsend
BBC Radio 5 live summariser

"Bubba Watson is very comfortable here, a former winner of the tournament and he has played well this year. He can get very aggressively when he plays with confidence. Watson won't win this today though, there is a long way to go yet."

It has to be said that Kevin Stadler is a walking advertisement for nature over nurture. Round of belly, short of leg, if you stick a brush on his top lip then he would be his father Craig.

Image source, Reuters

Rob Hodgetts
BBC Sport at Augusta National

Fore, please. Rory McIlroy now driving. "Rors", watched by red-haired fiancé Caroline Wozniacki, steps up to his ball and pummels one down the first, catching the right bunker.

Playing partner Jordan Spieth goes way left, Patrick Reed straight but short. McIlroy splashes out onto the green and makes a safe par to kick off his bid to catch the rampant Bubba Watson.

Sparse crowds following McIlroy in comparison to yesterday, probably because most of them are on the back nine, judging by the prolonged roar building to a crescendo coming from somewhere down there. It can only be Watson's fourth straight birdie at the 15th.

Par four, 440 yards

Former United States president Dwight Eisenhower used to hit into a loblolly pine placed on the left of the fairway so often that he unsuccessfully campaigned to have it cut down. It was eventually removed earlier this year after an ice storm caused major damage. An uphill hole, with a challenging green that slopes off in all directions.

2013 average: 4.22 Rank: 6

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The Masters record is seven successive birdies. Bubba is on five as he takes those lanky legs down the 17th. It's a decent bet to say that, so long as he doesn't inflict any pain on himself in the last two, he will lead overnight.

Watson's charge is playing havoc with the projected cut, possibly ruining the weekend of about 47 of this 97-strong field. Remember, it's those within 10 of the leader, or the top 50. At this rate, within 10 of the leader will be nowhere near finding another 49 players to keep Bubba company. The projection is that three over and better gets you another two rounds.

Bubba Watson's last five holes have been birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. Five in a row have given the 2012 champion clear daylight between himself and the rest of the field. This time it's at the par-three 16th. Who cares if he's wearing an awful shirt? Right now, he's making the rest play for second.

Image source, AP Photo

Challengers are falling away from Bubba Watson at a rapid rate. Now it's the big pink figure of Kevin Stadler to do damage to himself. A double bogey on 11 sees him drop to two under. And you're not going to believe what Bubba has done now...