US amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau makes stunning run at historic Masters win

Bryson DeChambeau made a shambles of the 18th hole in Friday’s second round at Augusta National, or the 22-year-old American might have finished in the lead at the Masters.

The reigning US Amateur champion was on track for the low round of a wind-swept day at the famed layout with six birdies in the round and he stood second on the leaderboard to playing partner and defending champion Jordan Spieth.

But a dismal triple-bogey finish left DeChambeau with back-to-back par 72s, still level eighth and only four strokes adrift entering the weekend.

“I did miss a couple of putts. If I made those putts and just do what I should on 18, I could be leading,” he said. “Could easily be right up there on the top of the leaderboard.”

No amateur has ever won the Masters, whose founder was famed amateur Bobby Jones. The best Masters showing by any amateur was Ken Venturi’s solo runner-up effort in 1956.

DeChambeau, stylish in his Ben Hogan-style cap and unique with all of his irons and wedges the same length, could achieve a landmark victory and become the first man to win in his debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

“The only thing I have to clean up is my par-5 play,” DeChambeau said. “I’m only 1-under on the par-5s. If you want to win the Masters, you’ve got to play the par-5s really well.

“If I birdie half the holes on the par-5s these past couple days, I’m in the lead.”