BY BRENDAN JAMES at Augusta National GC

Five of the past 11 winners of the Masters have been left-handed. It has been said often that a ‘leftie’ can miss shots on the difficult Augusta National course and not be as harshly penalised as a right-handed player.

But when you’re name is Bubba Watson and you regularly smash the ball beyond 300 yards and hit wedge shots so high they are a danger to aircraft, being left-handed is just an added bonus at Augusta.

And as for missing, the 2012 Masters Champion hasn’t missed much so far in the past two days.

Watson, 35, added a 68 to his bogey-free opening round 69 to take the halfway Masters lead by three shots from Queensland’s John Senden. Dane Thomas Bjorn, Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, young American Jordan Spieth and defending champion Adam Scott are all one stroke further back on three under.

HOW THE AUSSIES FARED AND WHAT THEY SAID   click here

Watson’s play thus far has been seemingly carefree and awesome to watch at the same time.

Bubba Watson fires his tee shot into the 16th green to set up another birdie. PHOTO: Getty Images

On day one he missed only two greens in the round. In the second round, he missed six greens but the putter, which is perhaps his Achilles Heel, was on song, especially on he back nine.

Watson began the second round solidly, continuing his bogey-free run through the first 26 holes. He stumbled, briefly, at the 9th hole but that was quickly dismissed three holes later.

His tee shot at the short par-3 12th hole sparked the best run of birdies the tournament has seen so far. Hitting a 9-iron, he stuffed his tee shot to within three feet of the cup and holed the putt for the first of five consecutive birdies to saw him surge to eight under with two holes to play.

He made it five birdies straight at the par-3 16th, where another sensational 9-iron ended its journey just four feet short of the cup. It must have looked even better to Watson standing back on the tee.

Bubba Watson reacts after making a birdie putt on the 14th green. PHOTO: Getty Images

With that birdie he joined David Toms, Geoff Ogilvy, Hale Irwin and Gary Player as the only players to go on a run of nothing but birdies from the 12th to 16th holes.

A par-bogey finish left Watson at seven under and in the box seat with two rounds to play, which was in stark contrast to his defense of the title last year was tied 55th after two rounds.

He says being left-handed, in his opinion, presents no real advantage.

“No, I don't see it (the advantage),” he said. “I like to cut the ball, a righty likes to draw the ball.  Throughout history, I know there's more lefties now on TOUR, but throughout history righties have won more than lefties.

“I just like to cut the ball, so it works out good at this golf course for me cutting it off the tee.”

The long-bomber said the key for him this week is to hit greens in regulation.

“It's not a science,” he said. “If you're hitting greens, obviously you're not going to be in the trees that many times, unless you're me I guess.

“By hitting greens, you're hitting your tee shots well and you're hitting the par-3 or short par-4, everything is going right in your game. I missed two greens yesterday, missed a few more today with the conditions a little tougher, but my tee shots are pretty good. There hasn't been too many real bad tee shots.”

Watson said this year he has been able to just concentrate on playing the Masters rather than undertaking all the responsibilities of a defending champion.

“It's easier for me,” he confessed. “I can't speak for the other guys but for me it is. The Champions Dinner was not about me, I could enjoy it this time and listen to some of the stories. I was in awe when I was a champion, when it was my dinner. You know you're sitting there amongst the great champions that are in, and this year I got to be just a bystander, one of the guys, because it was Adam's night.

“So media attention is on the defending champion. You’re asked all these questions; Can you defend? How are you going to play? How are you going to do this? …so there’s a lot of  things going on, media attention, when you're defending champion.

“For me I didn't know how to handle it the best way, and so I didn't play my best golf last year.  But you know, this year I come in here with no media attention, just out there practicing.

“I changed my routine a little bit, played nine holes a day starting on Monday and just tried to save energy as much as I can. It was very different from last year to this year.”

Watson will play in the final pairing for the third round alongside Senden.

Bjorn and Blixt will be the penultimate group, while Scott and Spieth will be the third last group out.

***

There were some big name casualties of the 36-hole cut, but there were none bigger than three-time Masters Champion Phil Mickelson.

A disappointed Phil Mickelson missed the cut for the first time in 16 years. PHOTO: Getty Images

The last time Mickelson failed to make the cut at the Masters, Jordan Spieth was three-years-old.

Mickelson got the weekend off, missing the cut by one stroke at five over. When you consider he made two triple bogies over two days, he could easily have made his 17th consecutive cut at Augusta National, which would have equaled Tiger Woods for the longest streak by an active player.

Woods is missing the Masters for the first time since 1994 after having back surgery March 31. It's the first time neither Woods nor Mickelson will play the weekend at a major since 2009.

"Why couldn't I get it going? You know, I don't really have a great answer for you," Mickelson said. "I've actually played reasonably well for a majority of the holes, and then the ones that I let slide I end up making a big number.

"So it's tough to overcome those big numbers."

Former Masters champions Charl Schwartzel, Angel Cabrera, Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman won't be playing the weekend either. Neither will major champions Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell, Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner.

LEADERBOARD

1. Bubba Watson (US)   69-68–137

2. John Senden (Qld)   72-68–140

T3. Adam Scott (Qld)   69-72–141

T3. Thomas Bjorn (Den)   73-68–141

T3. Jonas Blixt (Swe)   70-71–141

T3. Jordan Spieth (US)   71-70–141

ALSO:

T26. Steven Bowditch (Qld)   74-72–146

T37. Oliver Goss (WA, a)   76-71–147

T46. Jason Day (Qld)   75-73–148

Missed cut:

Marc Leishman (Vic)   70-79–149

Matt Jones (NSW)   74-78–152