After a closing bogey in the second round, Vaughn Taylor stood on the 18th green with his head down and Gary Player's arm wrapped around him.

Vaughn Taylor hands his golf ball over to his mother, Lynn Taylor, after shooting even-par 72 in the second round of the 2007 Masters. Taylor is alone at 1-under, one shot behind the leaders. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

Taylor shook his head up and down as the three-time Masters Tournament champion lent a few uplifting words of advice Friday afternoon.

"He said I was a great player and that I could go out there and win this thing this week," said Taylor, who was interviewed on TV in Butler Cabin after his round. "Just go out there and play to win and stay focused."

Despite a hiccup on the last green, Taylor shot even-par 72. After an opening 71, the Augusta-area resident gained a shot on the lead and is in third place, one shot behind co-leaders Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark.

Taylor will tee off in the next-to-last grouping today.

With 36 holes remaining, Taylor is bidding to become the second player with Augusta ties to slip on a green jacket. Larry Mize became the first in 1987, the first year Taylor attended the tournament. Taylor leaped off the couch when Mize holed his miraculous 140-foot chip on the second hole of the sudden-death playoff to defeat Greg Norman.

"It was awesome," Taylor said. "I was just getting into golf and didn't know a whole lot about golf, and obviously the story was Larry was from here. I thought it was pretty amazing he won here in his hometown. That was pretty special."

Taylor hits a drive off the seventh tee during Friday's round. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

Taylor, the former Hephzibah High School and Augusta State standout who now lives in nearby Evans, has been pretty special himself through the first two rounds. He's ranked 30th or better in five major statistical categories, an indicator of his consistent play.

Taylor is tied for ninth in putting, averaging 1.5 putts a round (54 putts). He's also tied for 29th in driving accuracy (19 of 28 fairways) and greens in regulation (19 of 36) and 30th in driving distance (283.7).

Maybe the most impressive stat is his sand saves. He's a perfect 4-for-4, one of those saves coming on the par-3 12th, where he got up and down for par to remain even for the tournament.

Taylor kept himself in contention with his short game. After knocking his second shot in the water on the par-5 13th hole, Taylor took a penalty and got up and down for par.

He later drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the difficult par-4 14th. Taylor then knocked his second shot into the greenside bunker at No. 15, pitched out and rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt that gave him a share of the lead at 2-under.

The 31-year-old reached the 18th green in two but left himself a long birdie putt over a ridge to the back right pin. He knocked the putt five feet past and missed the come-backer.

"I feel like I played better today than I did yesterday," he said. "Tee to green I definitely hit it better than I did yesterday. I had a lot more chances at birdie."

Taylor shot rounds of 75-74 to miss the cut by one in his first Masters appearance a year ago. He went on to have a solid 2006 capped by a top-40 finish on the PGA Tour money list and his first time playing on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

"I think this year he's a lot more relaxed," said Jack Taylor, Vaughn's father. "I think the Ryder Cup experience helped him a lot. The pressure is not as great this year. Maybe he didn't put too many expectations on himself this year. I don't know. I don't ask him too many questions."

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.