Yang, Choi in hunt entering weekend

AUGUSTA -- Countrymen Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi shared a moment in the spotlight Friday afternoon at Augusta National Golf Club.

By the end of the day, however, the South Koreans couldn’t finish the round the way they started it, although they remain reasonably close to leader Rory McIlroy heading into the third round of the Masters.

Choi is tied with Tiger Woods in third place after a 2-under-par 70 moved him to 7 under for the tournament, three shots behind McIlroy and one back of Jason Day.

Yang finished the second round at 5 under in a tie for seventh place alongside Ricky Barnes, Fred Couples, Lee Westwood and Rickie Fowler.

“It’s been kind of a rolling, up-and-down day for me,” Yang said through an interpreter. “I’m a little bit disappointed compared to (Thursday), but there’s still a lot of golf left.”

Both Choi and Yang entered the second round two shots behind McIlroy, and both got off to quick starts to move into the lead at separate points in the day.

Yang bogeyed his first hole but quickly responded with three straight birdies to move to 7 under, which at the time was good enough for a share of the lead with McIlroy, who didn’t tee off until a few hours later.

Yang moved into sole possession of the lead later on his front nine with a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole to get to 8 under. He immediately fell into a slide after the birdie with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10. There were no birdies on the back side, but Yang did find one more bogey on 16 to fall to 5 under.

The 39-year-old believed he couldn’t recover from a three-putt on 10. He left his birdie putt on the par-4 hole -- considered one of the toughest holes on the course -- well short. His par putt went left, and he headed to Amen Corner with consecutive bogeys.

“I think after that, I was a bit ... my confidence was a bit dwindling, and overall, I just couldn’t gauge my distance and my putts started to shake a bit,” Yang said. “I think overall, the 10th hole green cost me a lot (Friday).

Choi also bounced around with the lead Friday afternoon.

A two-time top-five finisher at the Masters, Choi started the day with three birdies in his first six holes to get to 8 under for the tournament. He stayed steady with five straight pars but went through an up-and-down back nine.

Choi bogeyed 11, birdied 13 and then bogeyed the final hole of the day. He hit his approach to about 8 feet but missed a makeable birdie right of the hole. The ball raced past the hole, and Choi had a lip-out right of the cup on the par putt coming back.

“Although I bogeyed the last hole, I think my demeanor is still good, and I’m looking forward to the next two days,” Choi said.

This story was originally published April 9, 2011 at 12:00 AM.