Brooks Koepka strengthened his grip on the 87th Masters earlier than unrelenting rain at Augusta National compelled play to be suspended for the day.
Koepka took a two-shot lead into the delayed third spherical and had doubled his benefit over Jon Rahm in the house of simply 5 holes as greenkeeping employees battled to take away standing water from plenty of greens.
The closing group had reached the seventh inexperienced by the time play was known as off at 3.15pm native time, with Koepka on 13 below par and Rahm 9 below.
US Amateur champion Sam Bennett was three strokes additional again, with Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa all on 5 below.
At the different finish of the leaderboard, Tiger Woods had slumped to final place of the 54 gamers to make the reduce after protecting his first seven holes in six over par.
Koepka and Rahm had each made birdie on the par-five second when the third spherical acquired below way, however Rahm bogeyed the fourth after a wayward tee shot after which three-putted the subsequent from lengthy vary.
“Obviously when we walked up to the seventh green it was clear to us that it had been wet for a while,” Rahm stated.
“I perceive they’re attempting to push us to play as many holes as attainable, nevertheless it was very obvious once they tried to get the water out that it simply wasn’t going to occur in our case.
I do not blame them for wanting us to play as a lot as attainable
Jon Rahm had no concern with the timing of the suspension
“You can’t really say it was (too) late because I don’t blame them for wanting us to play as much as possible. It was just too bad I couldn’t save at least one par on four or five, but I made a great swing on six and two great swings on seven.
“So I’m feeling confident, playing good golf and there’s a lot to be played.”
Koepka, who received 4 majors in eight begins and likewise completed runner-up to Woods in the 2019 Masters in that stretch, added: “I’m not too concerned about playing 29 holes or however many holes we’ve got left. It’s part of the deal.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be up for it considering it is the Masters. So I don’t think anybody should have a problem with that.”
Woods had endured a depressing afternoon, dropping pictures on the tenth and 14th earlier than carding consecutive double bogeys on the fifteenth and sixteenth.
It was the first time in his profession that Woods had made a double bogey on the par-three sixteenth and likewise the first time that he had recorded back-to-back double bogeys.
Woods had earlier loved somewhat unintentional assist from his mates as he made a record-equalling twenty third consecutive reduce in the Masters.
The 15-time main winner had seven holes of his second spherical to finish when play resumed at 8am and adopted three pars with a birdie on the fifteenth to get inside the projected reduce mark.
However, dropped pictures on the seventeenth and 18th left Woods on three over par and needing assist from elsewhere to affix Gary Player (1959-82) and Fred Couples (1983-2007) in the file books.
That help instantly arrived pretty much as good pal Justin Thomas badly hooked his tee shot on the seventeenth and went on to bogey the gap, dropping to 3 over himself and shifting the reduce to the similar rating.
Thomas additionally bogeyed the 18th to overlook the reduce as 54 gamers certified for the final 36 holes on three over.
Speaking earlier than the reduce had been confirmed, Woods stated: “I’ve always loved this golf course and I love playing this event. Obviously I’ve missed a couple with some injuries, but I’ve always wanted to play here.
“I hope I get a chance to play this weekend. I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds.”
Rahm had reached 9 below par halfway by his spherical when play was suspended for the second time on Friday afternoon as robust winds introduced three timber crashing down throughout the seventeenth tee, remarkably not injuring any spectators.
The world quantity three twice closed to inside a shot of Koepka due to birdies on the twelfth, fifteenth and seventeenth, however bogeys on the sixteenth and 18th meant he would begin spherical three two behind.
“With the temperature we had and how long the golf course was playing, I was very happy to be able to play the back nine under par,” Rahm advised ESPN after including a 69 to his opening 65.
“The 18th was brutally difficult.”
During the third spherical, event officers had introduced a file prize fund of 18million US {dollars} (£14.49million), a rise of 20 per cent from final yr, with the winner pocketing £2.6million.
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