A wild weekend is expected at Augusta National Golf Club, as Saturday's play began with a four-way tie atop the 2017 Masters Tournament leaderboard. Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler, Charley Hoffman and Thomas Pieters all shared a piece of first place after 36 holes.The Weather Channel is forecasting a picturesque weekend at the famed Georgia course. So not only is the leaderboard already crowded, but there's an opportunity for a player off the radar to make a charge with a low score in the ideal playing conditions.Let's check out a current look at the top scores at the season's first major event. That's followed by a closer look at the last few groups to tee off for Round 3.2017 Masters LeaderboardPreview of Final GroupsGarcia is one of the best active golfers without a major title on his resume. It's a group that also includes Fowler, but the situation is far more pressing for the 37-year-old Spanish star, who's likely running out of chances to secure one of those career-defining moments.He's been in similar situations before, tallying 22 top-10 finishes in majors during a career that's spanned two decades. Alas, getting over the hump, which is far more of a mental hurdle than a physical one, has proved elusive.On Friday, Ewan Murray of the Guardian passed along comments post-round comments from Garcia, who understands the narrow margin for error:In a lot of these shots there's such a thin line between a good shot being next to the hole and a good shot being 40 feet away and then having a very difficult two putt. You try to not think about those and try to be as positive as possible.Things are happening at the moment. I want to make sure that I keep riding that wave and go out there tomorrow and be positive, be like I've been the first two days.Fowler played better than anybody in the second round. He posted a five-under 67 to climb from 19th place into the tie for first. Those flashes of brilliance are common for the colorful Oklahoma State product, but backing them up has proved difficult.Eight times this season he's posted a 67 or better in the first three rounds of a tournament. In only three instances did he follow up that performance with another sub-70 effort, and two of those came in the same event, the Honda Classic, which he won.To win his first major, he'll need to hit a lot more shots over the weekend like he did Friday, which the Masters Tournament highlighted:Hoffman entered the second round with the lead at seven-under par and he reached eight-under through five holes before fading. The good news is that he's still in the mix with the opportunity to bounce back on moving day.Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest provided reaction from the American veteran, who was happy with his approach and discussed his focus for the rest of the tourney:I didn't make any real mental errors. I just didn't execute. I can live with not executing, as long as I've thought through the process and just stuck to my game plan.I'm going to keep the same mind-set as I have the last two days. When I'm in position, I'm going to attack and try to make birdies, and when I'm not I'm going to try to just hopefully have a par putt at it.Then there's Pieters. The 25-year-old Belgian rising star has all the tools to eventually become the No. 1 player in the world and potentially win multiple majors. As Garcia would attest, however, winning the first one is often the most difficult.He owns three European Tour victories, and two of those came by a single stroke, so he understands how to handle clutch moments. Being able to execute shots under pressure is a lot different between an average event and during the weekend at Augusta, though.Kieran Clark of Golfshake is among those bullish on Pieters:While those four players entered the weekend with an advantage, there's a better chance of complete chaos over the next two days than anybody running away from the field.A high number of golfers within striking distance combined with terrific playing conditions should lead to several lead changes before someone slips on the green jacket on Sunday evening.
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