Eagles carry Johnson into Masters contention

By Steve Keating AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Big-hitting Dustin Johnson flew into Masters contention on the back of three eagles on Friday, carding a second-round five-under 67 to land in a tie for third. Johnson had a horrific start, taking a double-bogey at the first, but was propelled up the leaderboard by a Masters record three eagles at the par-five second, eighth and 15th holes. His card also counted three birdies, including one at the 13th, giving him a spectacular seven-under on the four par-fives as he reached the midway point of the year's first major at seven-under 137 alongside Britons Justin Rose and Paul Casey. "Walking off one, I was just thinking to myself, it's better doubling the first hole than the last hole," Johnson told reporters. "I wasn't too upset. I knew I had a lot of golf to go and I still felt, 'I'm playing well and you're going to make a couple of mistakes.' "Just hopefully you can get yourself out of it, which I did on that hole. Came right back and made up for it on number two." Although Johnson insists his game sets up well for Augusta National, the 30-year-old American has never managed good results, posting just one top-30 finish in five previous Masters, a 13th place in 2013. One of the most consistent performers on the PGA Tour, Johnson has picked up at least one tournament win in each of the last nine years but has wrestled with a rollercoaster life off the golf course. Johnson, who recently celebrated the arrival of his first child when his fiancee, Paulina Gretzky, gave birth to a son, ended a six-month leave of absence from golf to seek help for "personal challenges" at the Farmers Insurance Open in February. But the big-hitter has quickly returned to top form, taking a victory at the WGC-Cadillac championships and picking up top- five finishes at the AT&T Pebble Beach and Northern Trust Open. "Coming in this year, I felt really confident in my game," said Johnson. "I've been playing really good golf and I'm continuing to play good golf. "I haven't played my best golf the last two days, but I've played pretty good. Hopefully it's just going to keep getting better." (Editing by Gene Cherry)