Hot Hoffman left in shade by rampaging Spieth
By Steve Keating AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - In many years, Charley Hoffman would be the runaway midway leader of the Masters and the talk of Augusta National after carding a solid four-under 68 on Friday. But as hot has Hoffman has been through two rounds, Jordan Spieth has been hotter, sitting atop the Masters leaderboard on a record two round total of 14-under 130, five shots clear of his American compatriot. Hoffman's nine-under 135 total and two shot lead over big-hitting American Dustin Johnson and Britons Paul Casey and Justin Rose would have often qualified for banner headlines but a rampaging Spieth has left the anonymous 38-year-old journeyman and the rest of the field in his dust. "It's this year. It's not any other year," Hoffman told reporters. "I'm just playing golf and I've only played 36 holes and we've got a lot of golf left. "Jordan's playing great golf, so sometimes you get in the lead and you sort of maybe change your game plan a little bit. "I just kept my game plan and just kept trying to make birdies (and) was able to do a pretty good job of that." Hoffman, playing in just his second Masters, made his share of good shots on a hot, overcast afternoon, hitting five birdies and heading for a bogey free round until dropping a shot at the 18th. "As a golfer, you always want to play a bogey free round," admitted Hoffman, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour. "I had that going at Augusta, which is nice and I wasn't doing anything different. "I definitely wanted to get that ball up and down. "You got to make birdies. Jordan proved last few weeks he is not going away. I am going pin hunting for sure." (Editing by Gene Cherry)
