The Masters - day two digest

Rory McIlroy made Masters history as he surged clear at the top, a host of his European Ryder Cup team-mates are in the chasing pack and Kristoffer Reitan was among those making the cut on their debut at Augusta National.

Here is everything you need to know from day two of the year's opening Major Championship.

McIlroy holds unprecedented lead

McIlroy is heading for a second consecutive Masters crown after a scintillating second-round 67. Six birdies in his final seven holes lifted the Northern Irishman to 12 under and saw him claim a six-shot halfway lead -  the biggest 36-hole lead in Masters history. But with a talented chasing pack, including several of his European Ryder Cup team-mates and Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed and Sam Burns, the job is far from complete. Victory would see him become just the fourth player after Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods to be a repeat winner at Augusta. "I've built up a nice cushion at this point," he said. "I guess my mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas."

Resilient Rose in Green Jacket hunt again

A year after losing out to McIlroy in a play-off, Justin Rose is in the mix again as he targets his second Major success to go along with his U.S. Open triumph at Merion in 2013. While he insisted at his pre-tournament news conference that the Masters does not owe him anything, few would begrudge him if was to win the Green Jacket on Sunday.  He appears intent on doing his very best to ensure he doesn't leave Augusta as the "nearly man" again, overcoming a frustrating start to the day on the greens to card a 69 that featured four birdies in a five-hole stretch.

Hatton at his Augusta best

Tyrrell Hatton shot a career-best 66 at Augusta to vault himself into contention as he targets a first Major Championship victory. The Englishman, an eight-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup star for Team Europe, has made no secret of finding the Georgia venue a challenge to his eye but he started to get to grips with it, finishing in the top 15 in each of the last two years. Here, on Friday, he hit an exemplary 18 greens in regulation - becoming just the third player in 30 years to achieve that feat. At four under, he is x shots adrift of the lead. "I gave myself lots of opportunities," he said. "I would have liked to have seen more putts go in. I don't feel like I actually holed that many putts certainly outside sort of seven, eight feet. Hopefully I can do a bit better on that front over the weekend, but overall it was a good day."

Reitan leads rookies to make the cut

Of the nine DP World Tour members making their debut appearance at Augusta, four made the cut with Kristoffer Reitan heading the pack. Just the second Norwegian teeing it up in the Masters after Viktor Hovland, the 28-year-old shot a 68 on Friday to head into the weekend at four under. A shot further back was Rolex Series winner Chris Gotterup, with Ryan Gerard and Marco Penge also safely progressing to the final two days.

Li overcomes sickness to be in the mix

It's been six years since Haotong Li played at the Masters but the Chinese is making up for lost time. Fearing he would not be able to play at Augusta on Friday after spending the morning "living in the toilet" because of illness, the 30-year-old showed resolve and was rewarded with a three-under-par 69. He found his groove with a run of four straight birdies from the 13th through to the 16th, where he came close to a hole-in-one. A Rolex Series winner, and this year a dual member on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, he shouldn't be discounted, especially having more than held his own when playing with Scottie Scheffler in the final group at The Open last summer. It was only in 2021 that Li contemplated the prospect of walking away from the game such was his frustration with his form. What a story it would be if he was to win.