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After some light rain fell overnight, the greens at Augusta National softened up for the morning wave of second-round tee times at the 2025 Masters, presenting low-scoring opportunities. There is no one in the golf world happier to get a green light to be more aggressive than Bryson DeChambeau, and after a strong start to his Masters with a 3-under 69 on Thursday, DeChambeau came out firing on Friday to make another move up the leaderboard. 

The two-time major champion has not had the best history at the Masters, but after taking the 18-hole lead a year ago and finishing T6, it seems he's started to figure out how to plot his way around Augusta National. That was on full display Friday as he took advantage of the morning's light winds and softer greens to go low on the first nine, making the turn in 4-under 32. 

His birdies on the two par 5s on the first nine came as little surprise, but it was his back-to-back birdies on the difficult 4th and 5th holes that were particularly impressive. On the 4th, he tugged his tee shot left and long into the bunker but splashed his ball out on the perfect line and had it drip in like a putt. 

On the 5th, it was his length on display as he hit a monster drive 359 yards down the right side, leaving just 162 yards into the back hole location and putting a wedge in his hand for his approach. He put that to 8 feet and rolled it in to vault into solo second at the time. 

However, after his hot start with four birdies in the first eight holes, DeChambeau stalled out a bit with made seven straight pars from Nos. 9-15. It was a mixed bag of solid pars on difficult holes like Nos. 10-12 but also failing to take advantage of either of the par 5s to pull even with Rose at the top. That proved costly as, on the 16th, he missed his spot and ended up on the lower level, then Dechambeau jammed his first putt 12 feet past the hole and couldn't make the comeback effort for par. He dropped back to 6 under. 

He would bounce back with a birdie on the 17th after a terrific approach to return to solo second at 7 under. On the 18th, he again was just a shade off, pulling his second shot back to the middle tier and leaving another long, difficult birdie putt. He left the first well short but poured in the par putt to maintain his spot in solo second.

Watch all four rounds of the 2025 Masters with expanded coverage from CBS Sports. It continues Friday with Masters Live as we follow the best in the world across Featured Groups, Amen Corner and Holes 15 & 16. Watch those streams live across Paramount+, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App with extended broadcast coverage Saturday and Sunday from 12-2 p.m. on Paramount+ and 2-7 p.m. on CBS. 

DeChambeau's round was unquestionably a success; one should never be upset about a 68 at the Masters. At the same time, it felt like he missed a chance for a truly special round to separate himself from the pack. There were birdies to be had on the second nine, proven by Rory McIlroy's second-nine 31, but DeChambeau was just marginally off in key spots after being in such a terrific groove early in his round. 

On the 13th, his drive trickled just into the pine straw creating a bit of an awkward stance that forced him to lay up, and on his third, he spun his wedge too much and left a long birdie put he could not make. On the 15th, he hit a solid tee shot but took less than driver, leaving himself another fairway wood in for his second, which he sprayed right of everything. From there, he left his third 32 feet short and could only make another two-putt par. 

With a birdie on the par 5s he typically dominates, DeChambeau would be going into Saturday with the lead rather than sitting in second place. Still, he avoided disaster on the second nine and kept himself moving forward and up the leaderboard. Now he heads into the weekend at Augusta National for the second straight year and will be looking to perform better than he did in the same position in 2024. 

It would be hard to produce a better top of the leaderboard that existed when he entered the clubhouse. McIlroy lurks one back of DeChambeau in third with storylines galore about his quest for the grand slam and also looking to exact some revenge on DeChambeau for last year's U.S. Open. Scottie Scheffler is right there as well, the ever-present threat at the top of leaderboards and the current most-dominant force at Augusta National. 

For DeChambeau, ever the showman, it's all he could ask — a chance to challenge for a green jacket with the two best players in the world is the kind of content no one can resist. 

Now, it's a matter of staying within himself on the weekend at the Masters. Friday was an impressive display in doing that even though he missed opportunities to take control of the tournament. When things weren't going quite his way, he never tried to force the action. Perhaps in doing so and leaving some birdies on the table, he proved a little something about his maturity and readiness for the challenge Augusta National will present to him this weekend. 

Becoming a Masters champion requires a perfect balance of aggression and patience as well as a recognition of when to toggle between those two modes. For years, DeChambeau struggled with the patience part of that equation. His scores at Augusta National have varied wildly in the past, but a 69-68 start this year suggests a newfound understanding of how to plot his way around the course. 

He will have to maintain that balance on the weekend to capture his first green jacket. There will be temptations to put on a show for the patrons, to create those roars he'll hear from other groups, but forcing the action is what Augusta National wants you to do. The course is designed specifically to punish the over-eager miss. It's all about creating as many good opportunities as possible and not trying to manufacture a birdie chance that simply doesn't exist. 

DeChambeau has done that extremely well so far, and as impressive as his first nine was on Friday, it was his willingness to accept an even-par 36 on the second nine that should spark optimism for this weekend.