AUGUSTA | The weather was dull this afternoon at the Masters Tournament, so heavy rain caused play to stop at 3:15 p.m. Unable to continue under these conditions, the officials put an end to the third round. Having completed a third of the course, Brooks Koepka had managed to limit the damage.
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At -13, the 32-year-old American had even managed to subtract a stroke from par until 6e pennant. He will resume action tomorrow morning, on the green of 7ewith a four-stroke lead over Jon Rahm.
“It was very difficult on the course. The bullet was going nowhere in this temperature. You also have to manage the rain and the cold, summarized Koepka.
“And you have to make high pressure putts, continued the one who was one of 11 golfers to play under par yesterday before the stoppage of play. Everyone knew it was on the way to being a very difficult day. We just had to work harder and manage to save the normals.
It will therefore be the perfect time to get back to Koepka’s heels by trying to put on the sparrows.
Fierce fight ahead
This heavyweight cockfight promises for the last day of competition. Some experts had played the prophets by placing a representative of the PGA Tour against a representative of LIV Golf in the final round.
This prophecy is on the way to realization because the two headliners of each circuit are neck and neck with 25 holes to play.
“There is still a lot of golf ahead of us. I feel good, strong and ready for a long day tomorrow,” Rahm said. The weather conditions will be good and the course will be softer.”
We must never forget that old saying often repeated on the hallowed ground of Augusta National: the Masters has only just begun on the back nine in the final round.
History has too often shown us leaders collapsing and hunters catching their prey, especially at Amen Corner.
In the not so distant past, Tiger Woods had taken advantage of the route of Francesco Molinari on the iconic par 3 of the 12e pennant, in the heart of Amen Corner, on a certain Sunday in April 2019. Two hours later, he roared to show that he had once again become master of the place.
Derailments
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jordan Spieth completely screwed up his lead in the final round of the 2016 edition. He drowned two balls in Rae’s Creek crossing ‘Golden Bell’, en route to a 7. He had later handed the green jacket over to Danny Willett.
And there is that implosion of Greg Norman in 1996. Leading Nick Faldo by six strokes at the dawn of the final round, the White Shark, now commissioner of LIV Golf, lost by five strokes with a disastrous card of 78 (+ 6)!
Norman’s name is still enshrined in the record books of Masters history as the point guard who lost the biggest lead after 54 holes.
We bet that, if he manages to forge a comfortable lead after 54 holes, Koepka will certainly not call his boss for advice.
The leading pair is followed by amateur Sam Bennett at -6. Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland prowl at -4.