• The Masters, Round Two

McIlroy masterful as Tiger toils at Augusta

Lee Westwood suffered with a double bogey at 18 © Getty Images

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British duo Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood are just one shot away from leaders Jason Dufner and Fred Couples after two rounds of The Masters.

Overnight leader Westwood had a 73 as he failed to seize control of the tournament, while McIlroy came on a charge with a 69; both are four under.

Tiger Woods is languishing at three over following an error-strewn round that was notable for a succession of wayward shots, particularly after the turn. World No. 1 Luke Donald is one stroke worse off.

Couples, 52, is bidding to become the oldest Masters winner - a record currently held by Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he recorded the last of his multiple triumphs.

McIlroy ended with successive birdies on Thursday, and carried that momentum forward thanks mainly to some lethal putting: he picked up shots at three and four from a combined 55 feet. Another birdie ensued at the seventh, before that stroke was given back when he encountered difficulty at the tenth.

However, he recorded fours at the 13th and 15th, both par-fives, after a superlative up-and-down at the latter. He failed to save par from a greenside bunker at 17, coughing up one shot, yet did conjure a fine, battling par at 18 having missed the putting surface.

Westwood made an uneventful start to his round, kicking off with ten consecutive pars as his iron shots, which were faultless on Thursday, left him with too much to do on too many occasions. A missed 30-footer for par at 11 stirred him into life, and precipitated birdies at 12 and 15 - although there was a lucky escape at 13, when his ball so nearly ended up in Rae's Creek.

The world No. 3's radar misfired at 18, his second shot careering past the left side of the green, and he suffered a double bogey after a three-putt that included a miss from four feet.

Couples, who won the tournament in 1992, posted a 67; Dufner, runner-up at US PGA Championship last year, had a 70.

Tiger Woods' 75 was as bad as he has played all year © Getty Images

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Woods seemed to lay the platform for a storming day with birdies at two of the first three - only to crumble spectacularly with some woeful putting over the subsequent run. Woods' finishing was his strength on Thursday, rescuing his wild swings from the tee; this time his driving was improved as he fell back on the three-wood for more security, yet the short-range play deserted him entirely. A dismal, underhit effort at four set the scene, and three more presentable chances from inside ten feet were wasted on the front nine, which featured three bogeys.

His wild second shot at 11 left him unable to make par from a sandy lie - and he let another one slip at 16, as disappointing approach piled upon disappointing approach, with unreliable putting unable to extricate him from perilous positions. Having hit his tee shot at 16, he dropped the club and proceeded to kick it, which summed up his woes. He finished with a round of 75.

Sergio Garcia, who has never fared better than fourth place at Augusta (he has better finishes at all the other majors), joined McIlroy and Westwood at four under following a 68. The Spaniard hurtled into trouble at the 18th having sent the ball flying into the gallery with his second shot, and wound up with a demoralising late bogey. Nonetheless, he proved he knows how to tame the course, with four birdies on the front nine and two after the turn.

Former Open winner Louis Oosthuizen is also four under, alongside Bubba Watson. Another man who has won the Claret Jug, Paul Lawrie, finished birdie-birdie-birdie to stick at three under.

Phil Mickelson's chances of winning the tournament seemed to be hanging by a thread through 14 holes of his first round, when he was four over - but he is now two under, having found some of the Masters magic on which he has built his reputation. He walked off with a 68 that featured a hot streak of three birdies between 12 and 15; it could have been so much better: he missed birdie by a whisker with a putt at the second, and blew another chance at 16 that was, by his standards, pretty simple.

Ian Poulter was two under with three to play, but dropped two strokes at 16 and ended up signing for a second successive level-par round of 72. Graeme McDowell surrendered shots at each of the last two holes, leaving him three over.

Paul Casey (seven over) and Darren Clarke (ten over) will play no part across the weekend.

Jason Day, joint runner-up last year, pulled out with an ankle injury.

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