American golfer Brooks Koepka took the solo lead at the Augusta Masters on Friday ahead of the Spanish Jon Rahm, with Tiger Woods fighting against elimination, when the day was suspended by a storm that caused the fall of trees in the field.
The first Grand Slam of the season experienced a great scare when strong winds caused the fall of three trees near fans in the vicinity of the 17th hole.
Play was halted shortly thereafter due to the predicted arrival of the storm. After a moment of uncertainty, the organizers confirmed that none of the spectators was injured in the incident and confirmed that the game was suspended until 08:00 local (7 am Colombia) on Saturday.
Scary stuff. Right of 16 green at Augusta National as winds pick up here. Masters suspended at 4:22 due to weather. Hope everyone is OK.pic.twitter.com/vCZA9oHW43
— Josh Berhow (@Josh_Berhow) April 7, 2023
“The safety and well-being of all those attending the Masters will always be the Club’s top priority. We will continue to closely monitor the weather conditions today and throughout the Tournament”, the Masters said in a statement.
At the time of the interruption a total of 39 players were still scattered around the field trying to finish their second round.
Miraculously there were no injuries. 😮⛳️
At least two trees fell in a place with public, near the 17th hole of Augusta National.
Thanks to chance these trees would not have left any injuries according to local reports. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/wb0w1gTWo3
— Golf Channel LA (@GolfChannelLA) April 7, 2023
This is how the Augusta Masters goes
Koepka, a representative of the rebel LIV Golf circuit, was among the first players to take the field and completed his career with a card of 67 strokes (-5) and an accumulated score of -12.
His first pursuer is the Spanish Rahm, world number three, with -9 after his first nine holes of the day. Rahm had finished the first round in the joint leadership with Koepka and the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who dropped to fourth place with -6 after 10 holes, tied with the American Collin Morikawa.
In third place was the surprising Sam Bennett, an amateur golfer who also finished his round in 68 shots and has a cumulative score of -8.
Bennett, who dreams of being the first amateur to triumph in this emblematic tournament, came to be in second position during the day but Rahm, determined to put on his long-awaited first green jacket, overtook him with two consecutive birdies on holes 8 and 9 .
LIV Golf’s revenge
Koepka, winner of four ‘Major’ titles, took perfect advantage of his early start time to put land in the middle with an eagle and three birdies.
“It’s been very solid. I haven’t messed up too much,” the 2009 Masters runner-up congratulated himself. “You have to birdie these par-5 holes and I did a good job with that.”
After winning last week’s LIV Golf event in Orlando, Florida, a victory for Koepka at the Augusta Masters would be a nightmare scenario for the PGA.
The American circuit saw how Augusta accepted this year that its figures compete against 18 players from LIV Golf, the new competition financed by Saudi Arabia with which it has been fiercely confronted for a year.
The PGA has banned the participation in its tournaments of players who joined LIV Golf, a circuit with record prizes of up to 25 million dollars and competitions with 54 holes instead of 72.
Tiger Woods, winner of 15 Grand Slam tournaments, was desperately trying to improve his performance after the 74 shots (+2) he signed on Thursday.
After closing his first six holes on Friday even, the Californian hit a bogey on the seventh that dropped him below the cut-off line but a birdie on the eighth provisionally saved him again with seven holes to play.
At 47, Woods is dealing with pain in his right leg, one of the aftermath of his 2021 car accident, but he is determined to compete to the end in one of his last appearances at Augusta, where he emerged as a five-time champion.
Woods has suffered only one early elimination in his previous 24 Masters appearances, as an amateur in 1996, a year before his first victory at Augusta.
SPORTS
with AFP
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