After finishing his second round at the Masters, two-time winner Bubba Watson was readying for a trip home to Florida and 12 months to reflect on how to improve on his six-over-par result. "The golf course beat me this year," he said. "Got to wait a year to attack it again."
Two hours later, he was changing his travel plans. Thanks to   Augusta's 10-shot rule, Jordan Spieth's Friday reversal gave Watson, as well as other major winners Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer and Adam Scott a reprieve from potentially missing the cut. 
When Watson was ruing his inability to handle the windy conditions, he was 14 shots behind Spieth and well outside the cut line. But Spieth proceeded to fall back from eight to four-under par, and every dropped shot widened the net to bring new contenders into the weekend. It also gave new life to the Australian challenge.
While Steven Bowditch and Marc Leishman missed the cut, the trio of Jason Day, Cameron Smith and Adam Scott were brought back into contention by Spieth's struggles.
Day had been initially despondent after his second-round 73, saying the effect of strong winds and firm greens started to affect him "mentally and then physically, you start getting tired, because you just always are on the grind".
As on the first day, the world No.1 started strongly, making three birdies on the front nine, but again he struggled on the back of the course, dumping his approach into Rae's Creek on the 13th before missing a short par putt on the last. His body language also began to show the strain, with deep sighs and exasperated twirls of his clubs, and he said he failed to commit to several shots. But at the end of his round, he was eight shots behind Spieth. After going home, Day improved to five strokes behind and back in the chase.
The sweet-swinging 22-year-old Smith, built like he might blow away if he wasn't nailed down, produced another impressive round in his debut Masters.
He said getting through the first two days were a box to tick before moving onto the weekend. Along with other chores - such as going to the merchandise shop to buy a Masters branded bowl for his dog Kendrick - Smith, at three-over par, looked forward to sinking some putts to "climb my way up the leaderboard".
Scott, who had the misfortune to start his second round just as the wind was reaching its afternoon peak, produced an even-par 72, one shy of the best score of the day.
"I had my work cut out for me just to be here for the weekend," he said. "At times it wasn't looking good, but I played a better back nine. It's very difficult on conditions like this when you're not fully in control to actually turn it around in your favour."
Two birdies in his final four holes helped to cut in half Scott's distance from the lead. He hoped to halve it again on Saturday.
Among the luminaries who were too far behind to be saved by the 10-shot rule were Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Charl Schwartzel and Graeme McDowell.
Some of the departing players looked relieved to be spared two more days in the wind. But not Bubba. Instead of a year to plot his attack, he only had to wait one night.