Through six holes of golf in round three of the Masters tournament, Brooks Koepka finds himself at 13 under par with a four-shot lead.
Play was suspended at 3:15 p.m. Saturday due to the consistent downpour at Augusta National.
Spain’s Jon Rahm, the third-ranked golfer in the world,remained alone in second place at 9 under par.
At the start of the third round, Koepka had not played in the rainy conditions yet. Many people were thinking that this would be to Rahm’s benefit. Rahm had finished the entire back nine (he was already on the green on hole No. 10 when play was suspended Friday) Saturday morning and was 10 under par at the time, two behind Koepka.
In the third round, which began for the leaders at 1:06 p.m., Koepka carded one of only two birdies in his grouping of Rahm and amateur Sam Bennett, who ended the suspended play at 6 under par and alone in third place. Koepka was able to score the birdie on the par-5 second hole after an excellent set-up shot.
The weather affected everyone, but Koepka, the four-time majors winner, seemed to play defensive enough not get any bogeys like his pairing members did.
“Yeah, it’s obviously super difficult,” he said. “The ball’s not going anywhere. You’ve got rain to deal with, and it’s freezing cold. It doesn’t make it easy. You’ve got to make some pressure putts. You know it was going to be a difficult day. You’ve just got to grind through it and try to salvage something.”
In addition to the hard rain soaking even the effectively drained Augusta National course, temperatures were in the mid-40s, nearly 40 degrees colder than Thursday’s first round.
Rahm, who got to 11 under at one point, and Bennett, who plays collegiately at Texas A&M, both scored two bogeys apiece, making the gap between them and Koepka even larger. Rahm was able to bang home a birdie on hole No. 2 with Koepka before scoring a bogey on holes four and five.
“You know, just too bad I couldn’t save at least one par on (Nos.) 4 or 5,” said Rahm “On five, actually I hit two good putts and it is what it is, right. That hole’s playing extremely long.”
The 495-yard fifth is one of the most difficult par-4s on the course even if the best of weather conditions.
It was clear from the beginning of the third round today that the players weren’t going to be able to get the whole round in, but the Augusta National wanted to be able to finish with as few holes in the third round as possible for what will be a long Sunday. Some of the greens began to pond water, but pin placements for the third round were as high as possible on each hole.
The course as a whole was soaked and played that way. Balls were stopping 50 yards shorter than usual. The golfers’ drives would stick to the ground and wouldn’t go any further. Putting required a complete change of attack because the greens were much slower. Players asked for the squeegees to be brought out on several occasions before play was suspended.
Augusta National finally suspended play for the day 3:15 as the weather was getting worse. The 7,510-yard course was drenched, and the golfers were miserable.
The conditions were so bad that five-time winner Tiger Woods, with his gimpy right leg, soared to a 9-over-par total. Woods, though, had made the cut at the Masters for the 23rd straight time. That ties him with Gary Player and Fred Couples for the longest streak in tournament history.
There were very few birdies, and most of the golfers were backing up.
Besides Koepka, other players who fared decently in the inclement weather included defending U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who was 3 under for the round and had moved into a tie for fourth place with Norway’s Viktor Hovland, outstanding putter Patrick Cantlay and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa. Cantlay, the UCLA alumnus whose best finish in the Masters is ninth, was also 3 under for the third round.
Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, was 2 under before the suspension of play. Scheffler stood at 3 under for the tournament.
With six holes played today it looks like the tournament will be on track to finish Sunday with drier weather predicted. Highs are supposed to be in the low- to mid-60s on Sunday. Koepka, Rahm and Bennett will have to get in 30 holes to complete the required 72.
We’ll see if Koepka can expand his lead and don the green jacket, or if Rahm catches fire in the final round and secures his first Masters win.
Or perhaps third-place Bennett or one of the players in fourth can catch fire.
When the action resumes Sunday morning at 8:30, the top two players will be on the No. 7 green. Koepka will have 11 feet for par and Rahm faces a 9-foot putt for birdie.
Rahm, for his part, downplayed the fact that he, as a PGA Tour player, was used to playing more holes in a tournament than Koepka, who plays in the 54-hole LIV events.
“I don’t think that means much, obviously,” said Rahm. “When you’re in the position we’re in, adrenaline kicks in and it doesn’t really matter.”
