Na shoots 66, his best round at Masters

There was little to indicate Kevin Na was going to have a special round Friday.

The 31-year-old with one career PGA Tour victory has missed two cuts in four previous tries at the Masters Tournament. Of the 13 rounds he’d played in Augusta, only two were under par.

He also has a cold.

So he went out Friday and shot his best round ever at Au­gus­ta National Golf Club, 6-under-66, which vaulted him into the top 10.

“I figured the cut was going to be 2-over,” Na said after the round, which bested his fourth-round 68 in 2012. “Not thinking so much about the cut, my goal was to shoot something in the 60s, get it back under par for the weekend.”

He dropped to 4-under for the tournament, with an eagle at the par-5 13th; birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 16; and bogeys at Nos. 4 and 15.

Na said it was his par at No. 1 that made him think his game was on.

“I hit it over the green on 1, looking like it was dead,” he said. “I had an unbelievable chip to about 6 inches, and that kind of got my round going.”

His 2-over round Thursday didn’t have many highlights, with only three birdies. He said his iron play was off and he was “a little under the weather, a little sick.”

All of his birdie putts Friday were from about 10 feet or closer to the cup.

The eagle began with a drive off the tee “to a perfect spot,” he said. “(Then) I needed to hit a high 5-wood and fly it to the top (of the green) and stop it. And as soon as it came off the club face, I knew it was going to be good – somewhere, I would say, about 10 feet or so. And then it was a quick, slippery putt and I hit it perfect, right in the center and won a nice crystal.”

Na’s best finish at the Masters is a tie for 12th in 2012.

“The first few years, it’s a learning curve,” said Na, who is No. 21 in the World Golf Ranking. “You can’t expect to play well the first year out here. You don’t know how to play some of these putts to these pins. And after the first few years, I was like, ‘Oh, you know, I get it. I see how to play this golf course.’ After that, I’ve played better.”