Fred Couples takes retro theme at Masters to new level

• Couples flashes back to %2792 with tee shot on 12th hole
• McIlroy takes long way to weekend at Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fred Couples is really getting into this retro theme at the Masters.

Not only is the 1992 champion still in contention, shooting a 1-under 71 for a second day in a row that leaves him tied for seventh, he reprised his gravity-defying tee shot on No. 12.

"It did stay up there again," Couples said.

Back in '92, Couples' tee shot on the par-3 landed on the bank of the green. But instead of rolling down into the water, it stayed on the slope. Couples made par, and went on to beat Raymond Floyd by two strokes.

On Friday, his ball hit the slope and rolled toward the water, stopping about 3 feet short.

"I got very, very lucky," Couples said. "I had the perfect lie."

He wound up flubbing the chip shot, though, so no par like 1992.

Couples has been a familiar sight on the early leaderboard the last few years, and sees no reason he can't extend this run through Sunday. But he'll have to play better Saturday than he has the last two years, when he blew up with a 77 and 75.

"I'm not here just to play golf and think that I can't compete on this course," Couples said. "I can't compete with these guys over a year, but on one week I can compete and I have to do it tomorrow."

McILROY SURVIVES: Rory McIlroy saw more of Augusta National than he wanted.

The two-time major champion had to make a 4-foot putt on 18 to save par and make the cut after having two of the weirdest holes this year's Masters has seen. The wind carried his tee shot on 4 deep into the bushes, and his second shot on 13 ricocheted into the azaleas after it hit a sprinkler head.

"Just a frustrating day," the Northern Irishman said. "I didn't know what that putt on the last was, to make the cut. But when I got into the scoring area and saw that I was in 46th place, it was a bit of a sigh of relief that I'm here for the weekend."

But McIlroy, who came in as the betting favorite to win the Masters, has a lot of ground to make up. At 5 over for the tournament, he's 11 shots behind leader Bubba Watson.

"I just want to go out there and try to get off to a fast start," said McIlroy, who will play with a marker Saturday as the last player to make the cut. "Eleven shots back with two rounds to play is going to be nearly impossible to make up. So I'm trying to shoot two really low rounds and see where that puts me at the end of the week."

PAR-3 CURSE: The curse of the Par-3 Contest continues.

Two days after winning the Par-3, Ryan Moore was on his way home after missing the cut by one stroke. No Par-3 winner has ever gone on to win the Masters in the same year.

GOOD KARMA: Kevin Streelman was due some good karma.

Streelman, who offered a pair of Masters tickets to a young Twitter follower this week, broke par for the first time at Augusta National on Friday, shooting a 1-under 71. With an even-par 72 on Thursday, he made the cut for the first time in three starts at the Masters.

"That's one of my favorite things, get a few tickets and give them to people who haven't been here before, because it means a lot to them," Streelman said. "I remember my first time vividly … it was one of the most inspirational moments of my life."

Streelman had extra tickets for Wednesday's practice round because his mother got ill and his parents didn't come. (She's fine now.) Instead of letting the tickets go to waste, Streelman told his Twitter followers he'd give them to a junior golfer who had never been to the Masters and had someone who could bring them to Augusta National.

He gave the tickets to Harrison Stafford, a 17-year-old from Savannah, Ga.

"I think he pulled his mom out of work, and they just kind of made the move," Streelman said.

Though Stafford wasn't at Augusta National on Friday, he was following Streelman from afar.

"If @Streels54 wins the Masters, I will go crazy!! #masters" Stafford said on Twitter.

PHOTOS: Round 2 at the Masters