Kiwi Ryan Fox has secured a spot in the next stage of the US Masters after finishing inside the top 50 after two rounds.
Fox was in a tie for 10th shortly after he finished his second round at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, US, after carding a two-over-par on Friday (local time).
Starting the day in tied for sixth after a terrific opening round of three-under-par, Fox looked to be still on form when he made par on each of the first seven holes, before birdieing the par-five eighth.
The hot start saw the world number 54 move into a tie for fourth, just two shots behind leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler.
However, with strong winds picking up on the back nine of the course, Fox was unable to ride the momentum and move further up the standings.
Instead, bogies on the par-four 11th, the par-three 12th and the par-four 14th saw him move back to one-under with three holes to play.
The Kiwi then had opportunities for birdies on the next three holes but was unable to capitalise, missing a putt to the left on the par-five 15th, going two-foot short with a putt on the par-three 16th, and the most heartbreaking of them all, hitting the flagstick with a chip on the par-four 17th.
Fox finished his up-and-down round with a par on the 18th, chipping his way from the bunker to within three feet of the hole for an easy putt.
"I’m knackered now,” Fox said after walking off the course. "That's got to be one of the hardest days I've had on a golf course.
"It was so hard to pick what [the wind] was going to do, whether it was helping, hurting. Obviously we had some huge gusts out there, and there's some really intimidating shots."
The performance leaves Fox five shots off the lead with both DeChambeau and Scheffler sitting on six-under-par.
Fox will join Tiger Woods, who set a new Masters record by making the weekend cut 24 times, and the other top 50 players on the course for Saturday's (local time) third round.
