Charley Hoffman and Rickie Fowler of the United States, Belgium's Thomas Pieters and Spaniard Sergio Garcia all find themselves on four-under par for the tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

Hoffman ended yesterday's first round with a four shot lead but he suffered a poor round today, carding a 75 three-over-par to drop back to four-under for the tournament.

The American hit three straight bogeys at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes before dropping a further two shots at the start of the back nine to relinquish his outright lead.

He managed to control the damage with a birdie at 13 before producing pars throughout the rest of the round.

His compatriot, Fowler, produced the best round of the day throughout the field to move into a strong position before the weekend.

Fowler produced a sublime five-under par 67 that included an eagle at the second hole and four birdies.

However, he found the water on the 15th hole and as a result made a bogey before narrowly missing the hole for birdie on the 18th which would have seen him take the outright lead. 

Garcia, playing in his 74th major tournament, opened his round with birdies on the first three holes and built on that to finish three-under for the day.

Pieters, meanwhile, shot an excellent four-under 68, which included a delightful eagle at the 13th.

Fred Couples of the US remains in contention after the 57-year-old, who won this tournament in 1992, shot a two-under par 70 and is tied for seventh, three shots back.

Jordan Spieth, the winner at Augusta in 2015, produced a resurgence today following a disappointing opening round.

The American shot a three-under 69 to get back to level par.

Another American, William McGirt, was second overnight but a one-over-par round today has seen him drop to fifth place, two shots behind the leading four.

Phil Mickelson of the US was on course to shoot an under-par round until he bogeyed three of the last five holes to finish one-over for the day and even-par for the tournament.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland failed to build on his even-par 72 yesterday as he shot a one-over 73 today, including a bogey on the last, to finish five shots behind the leaders.

Rio 2016 Olympic champion Justin Rose appeared to suffering from allergies in the closing stages of his round.

The Englishman finished level-par today to remain at one-under following his 71 yesterday.

Defending champion Danny Willett missed the cut after the Englishman endured a miserable day.

Willett was one-over following his opening round but opened his second with a quadruple-bogey before going on to finish seven-over par which saw him miss the cut by a shot.

The final round is scheduled to be completed on Sunday (April 9).