Exemptions over for 3 players

As his birdie putt dropped into the cup on No. 18, Lucas Glo­ver allowed himself a rare celebration for an even more rare occasion.

Glover, 34, of Greenville, S.C., finished Friday with back-to-back birdies to cap his best round at Augusta National – 3-under-par 69 – and pumped his fist to applause from patrons surrounding the last green.

“I’m not much of a Friday fist-pumper, but I don’t think I’ve ever shot in the 60s around here,” Glover said. “That meant a lot to me. That had nothing to do with anybody else or showing anybody up or anything. That was for me.”

Glover’s 3-under round left him at even par through 36 holes, keeping him in contention for the weekend. But if he doesn’t finish well, it could be a tough road back to Augusta.

Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, is one of three golfers whose five-year exemption into the tournament runs out after this week. Joining him are 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink and 2009 PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang.

Glover, at even par through two rounds, and Cink, at 1-over, will get their first cracks at earning another invite this weekend, where a top-12 finish comes with a spot for 2015. Yang will have to find another way back after missing the cut at 10-over with two rounds of 77.

Glover has missed the cut three times in his six previous starts at Augusta Na­tional. His best finish came in 2007, when he closed out the weekend tied for 20th. He most recently won on the PGA Tour in 2011.

He said that he wasn’t worried about losing the automatic invite and that he’d be back – if he deserves to be.

“I think if I do what I’m supposed to do and work like I’m supposed to work and play like I’m supposed to play, then I’ll be here,” Glover said. “And if not, that’s my motivation.”

Cink enters the weekend riding rounds of 73 and 72 and said he’ll attack the course with only a smidgen more flair than the conservative approach he said helped him make the cut.

“You can’t really go out and say, ‘I’m going to be aggressive now,’ because the course is just going to kill you if you go out there and haphazardly flail away at everything,” said Cink, a former Georgia Tech golfer.

The 40-year-old earned his exemption when he edged Tom Watson in a playoff, and his best finish in Augusta since that victory was 25th in 2013. In all, he’s made 17 starts at the Masters, and his tie for third in 2008 stands as his best performance.

He said knowing his free pass is up did not change the way he prepared for the tournament. He doesn’t expect it to be his last.

“I try to prepare for the Masters to play the best I can play every year no matter what,” Cink said. “And this year, it has no bearing that I’m not exempt next year. There’s a lot of other ways to get into the Masters other than the way I did. So if I don’t get qualified this week, then I’ll just have to start working next week on getting qualified again.”