Brett Wetterich often fights insomnia the nights between tournament rounds.

Brett Wetterich has a share of the lead after two rounds. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Somehow Wetterich, the Masters Tournament's 18-hole co-leader, slept soundly Thursday night.

Until his cell phone rang at about 1:30 a.m.

"I'm the type of person who gets phone calls like that every now and then," Wetterich said Friday. "My buddies forget I'm playing at the Masters and have to get up at 5:30 in the morning."

He got back to sleep after the call and estimates he slept three hours total. But the lack of sleep did little to disrupt Wetterich's play.

The Masters rookie followed his opening-round 69 with 1-over-par 73 in Friday's second round. At 2-under for the tournament, Wetterich is tied for the 36-hole lead.

He pledged after Friday's round to take a nap and turn off his cell phone to be well-rested for the weekend.

Not that Wetterich ever shows fatigue on the course. He's among the PGA Tour's biggest hitters, averaging 301.5 yards in driving distance this year.

But his power is often negated by a lack of precision. His drives find the fairways less than 60 percent of the time.

Wetterich has hit fairways even less frequently this week, despite taking a "less aggressive" approach. He's hit 13 of 28 fairways but is aiming for areas that give him preferable angles to the greens. He's made nothing worse than bogey - and only four of those - in his first two rounds.

"I'm trying to make as many pars as I can, and that's usually not my style of game," Wetterich said. "I'm usually pretty much firing at pins."

Augusta National Golf Club newcomers do well to take a conservative approach. Competitors play for more than dough at the Masters. They play for glory.

Wetterich understands that, despite his rookie status. He toiled on golf's mini-tours throughout the mid- and late 1990s, then bounced between the PGA and Nationwide tours for five years before breaking through in 2006.

Wetterich won the Byron Nelson Championship last summer and made the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He is one of three players on the Masters leaderboard who were Ryder Cup rookies last fall, along with Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson.

That's no coincidence, according to Taylor.

"We all have something to prove somewhat," Taylor said. "The Ryder Cup was big-time pressure. We all felt it and we all dealt with it. It helps me every time I tee it up right now."

Reach Adam Van Brimmer at (404) 589-8424.