Crane pleased overall at 2-under heading into weekend

Ben Crane’s golf game and the Masters Tournament have never really meshed well. So when he snuck into the field a week before the tournament with a No. 48 in the World Golf Rankings and shot an opening round 69, he was thrilled with his tie for fourth.

Friday’s round of 73 wasn’t as kind, though his two-round total of 2-under par 172 had him in the top 10 when he walked off the 18th green.

“I’m not pleased at all with my score,” he said. “But to be frustrated with the way I played some of the holes, I’m not too far out of it going into the weekend at Augusta... I’m very encouraged where I am overall, I just didn’t quite play as well as I wanted to the last nine holes.”

Crane, who battled strong wind gusts in his morning round, bogeyed the par-5 15th after needing two shots to get out of the bunker to the right of the green. His first shot clipped the lip of the bunker and fell back, settling in his footprint.

Crane also had to blast out of the sand at the 17th green but got up and down for par. His round ended on a sour note when his tee shot on 18 landed in the trees to the right of the fairway. His punch out rolled off the opposite side of the fairway, and he missed a 12-foot par putt.

Though he lost a shot at challenging for the two-day lead, Crane’s spot at 2-under is a welcomed position, considering his past Masters performance. He has made the cut just once in four appearances at Augusta National, finishing 24th two years ago.

“I think every aspect of my game is better this year than it has been in the past,” he said. “I just feel like I’m becoming a better player, more well-rounded player.”