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Australian golf star Cameron Smith has finished with a spectacular birdie blitz to seize a share of the clubhouse lead after his second round of the Masters.
Smith backed up an eagle three on the par-five 14th with four successive birdies to rocket to nine under par for the tournament, in a tie atop the leaderboard with Mexican Abraham Ancer.
Returning to play his final eight holes on Friday morning, Smith rattled off five birdies in the stretch, including three in a row on resumption and two consecutive to close his first-round 67.
Cam Smith. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
He followed that with a second-round 68 to surge into contention while compatriot Adam Scott was left to rue an unlucky break as the opening round of a weather-affected Masters finally concluded at Augusta National.
Ancer has had rounds of 68-67 to be tied with Smith.
World number one Dustin Johnson steadied the ship after a two-hole setback to be one shot behind at eight under late in his round.
Johnson, who had a 30-minute turnaround after also returning on Friday to finish his first round in a three-way share of the lead, began the second round on the back nine and quickly pulled away with three consecutive birdies starting at the 11th.
But Johnson, looking to become the first world number one to win the Masters since Tiger Woods in 2002, then made his first bogey of the week when he three-putted from 32 feet at the par-four 14th and another at the par-five 15th.
Scott was leading the Australian charge through Amen corner when he fell apart on the par-five 15th, the same hole that burned countryman Jason Day in the opening round.
Going for the green in two, Scott found the water in front of the green but the real twist of the knife came after he took a penalty drop and his pitch shot bounced into the flag stick, ricocheted backwards and once again ended up wet.
The resulting double bogey was a significant blow and despite a gutsy bounce back birdie on the following hole, Scott bogeyed the 18th to settle for a two-under 70.
The 2013 champion struggled to regain the momentum and completed his second round at two under, as were Jason Day and Marc Leishman who had late-afternoon tee times.
© AAP
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