Problems for Danny Willett again on day two of the Masters; Sergio Garcia off to a flyer

Defending champion Danny Willett suffered more misery on the opening hole at Augusta National as the second round of the Masters got under way on Friday.

Willett, who has struggled for consistent form since claiming his first major title 12 months ago, carded a double bogey on the 445-yard first on Thursday and was three over par after two holes before battling back to shoot 73.

That was good enough for a share of 19th place on a day when strong winds made scoring difficult, but all of the good work was swiftly undone when play resumed in similar conditions.

¿Empezaste mal el viernes? Pregúntale a #DannyWillett para ver qué se siente. Cuádruple bogey en el hoyo uno. pic.twitter.com/nxKK4LbGUs

— Nación Golf (@NacionGolf) April 7, 2017

From an awkward stance on the edge of a fairway bunker, Willett sliced his second shot into the trees, from where he executed a good escape shot which ran just off the left-hand side of the green.

His first chip then failed to climb a steep slope and rolled back down to his feet, while his next attempt was hit too hard and rolled across the putting surface and off the front of the green.

The 29-year-old then chipped to six feet and two-putted for a demoralising quadruple-bogey eight, dropping him to five over par and two shots outside the early projected cut.

At the top of the leaderboard, American William McGirt had followed a bogey on the first with birdies on the second and fourth to reach four under, three behind overnight leader Charley Hoffman.

Sergio Garcia so far today: #TheMasters

⛳1 Birdie
⛳2 Birdie
⛳3 Birdie

Four shots off the lead! pic.twitter.com/O8G7vnbhat

— Coral (@Coral) April 7, 2017

In contrast to Willett's struggles on the first, Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia holed from 12 feet to make just the second birdie of the tournament so far on the hole.

And the Spaniard also took advantage of a generous pin position on the par-five second to pick up another shot, before making it a hat-trick by holing from 20 feet on the third.

That took Garcia into a tie for second on four under, four adrift of Hoffman who had also birdied the second.