Surprisingly, youth being served on Masters leaderboard

History says you're not supposed to contend at the Masters until Augusta National has exacted its usual pound of flesh at least once. But Friday ended with a leaderboard full of fuzzy-faced kids who should know better.

By Melanie Hauser, PGA TOUR.com Correspondent

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Take a quick glance at the leader board. And then admit it.

If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a U.S. Open.

Surprising young faces. A few familiar names -- just not at majors. And just one usual suspect -- Vijay Singh. The kind of stuff a U.S. Open leader board is usually made of as the tournament swings into the weekend.

Yet here we are at Augusta National, the course where you're not supposed to win -- or contend -- until you've imploded a few times on the back nine. Until you've felt the pain of a three-putt from 3 feet and the wrath of that capricious wind at the 12th hole.

Augusta? It never has cared much about how many times you've been a part of a winning Ryder Cup team. Or what you did last year. Or how much promise everyone swears you have. All that is left for leaderboards at Opens and PGAs, where the diabolical or the sublime give even the final qualifier hope.

Here you fight the ghosts of Jones and Roberts. You remember Palmer's charges and Roberto's mistake. You know that all Tiger has to do to contend is be in touch going into the final 36.

So what in the name of Sarazen and Snead are we doing looking at the cherubic faces of Vaughn Taylor, Tim Clark, Justin Rose, Lucas Glover, David Howell and Zach Johnson?

This is a tradition like no other -- around here. Brett Wetterich, best known as the 12th man on the Ryder Cup team and the man who won the last tournament Byron Nelson presided over, is tied at the top with Clark, a tiny South African nursing a crick in his neck. Taylor, an Augusta boy, might have been right there with them, too, had he not bogeyed the final hole.

Rose has been sidelined with disk problems this spring, but nothing seems to be bothering him this week since he's tied with Jerry Kelly, Singh and Johnson, who three-putted the 16th from, oh, 3 feet, at even par.

And following them are Glover (a player with a major game who has yet to win on TOUR) Howell (he's decorating his townhouse in England via text messages this week), Harrington (the Irish veteran who probably should have a major by now), Geoff Ogilvy (the reigning U.S. Open champion with a major future), Stuart Appleby and Bradley Dredge (not to be confused with Matt Drudge and his report).

Got all that?

This is normally the time we talk Tiger and Phil. Or Vijay. Or Mike Weir. Or every so often Crenshaw and Couples.

Instead, we're looking at Nationwide TOUR alumni and a cold-weather/hockey kind of guy in Kelly. "Tomorrow is going to be cold," he laughed. "Yeah, lace 'em up boys."

The dry conditions have let everyone into the game this week. Clark gets roll off the tee, not trouble. Taylor hoping to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Larry Mize's surprise win with one of his own. Johnson had some momentum going until 16, while Harrington crafted one of the day's best rounds -- a 68 -- to put himself into contention.

And Ogilvy? Like Tiger, he's sitting back there ready to pounce. Ditto for former U.S. Open champ Jim Furyk.

Saturday won't be a day for the meek. They're expecting chilly temperatures, gusty winds and, well, that might be the difference. Not those infernal Augusta nerves that take their toll on the back nine.

"The conditions coming up on the weekend, I mean, we're going to all have to grind, whether if you're a rookie or not, or vet, you're going to have your hands full this weekend," Woods said. "Normally it usually rains here, and we've got softer conditions, you can make a couple of birdies. Out here, birdies are very hard to come by right now."

As Howell said, the players have been asking for firm and fast and now they better be careful what they wished for. Multiply that with Augusta itself and ... it's big-time pressure.

That said, we're not here to bury this leaderboard, but rather to praise it. Three quarters of the U.S. Ryder Cup rookies (Wetterich, Johnson and Taylor) are right there going into the weekend. Howell is beginning to make major noise in U.S. majors. And Harrington? He's a great player who has finished in the top five here and at both Opens. Clark is the master of adventure at the 18th hole and was runnerup here last year.

"The Ryder Cup was big-time pressure and we all felt it and we all dealt with it," Taylor said. "And it's helped us -- it's helped me every week I tee it up now. And especially helps here in a major where the pressure is big-time."

Singh has won here and is climbing the board. Ogilvy tied for 16th in his first try last season. Glover is taking off after losing his longtime coach a year ago, but admits he was a little uneasy after his 71.

"I was short all day," he said. "I know how fast (the greens) are. Maybe I'm scared a little bit."

Truth be told, most of them are. Singh and Tiger -- he's even five shots back -- are confident. That's just the way they are.

But these other players? They're living a dream -- at Augusta, not the Open. They're fresh faces. They're fun. And yes, they all have a chance.

You never know when another chip-and-run will find the bottom of the hole and knock off a legend.

"I hope I'm in it," Glover said, summing up what most of the contenders have to be feeling. "You keep improving every day. That's a good thing."

So is patience.

This place doesn't care if you're a rookie or a four-time winner.

It's just waiting to eat your lunch.