Koepka remains clear of Rahm as rain suspends play – The Masters

Round 3

Brooks Koepka extended his Masters lead over Jon Rahm to four shots before the third round was suspended due to a waterlogged course at Augusta National.

Koepka held a three-stroke overnight advantage after a bogey-free 67 but saw his lead reduced to two when Rahm – one of 39 players returning early on Saturday morning to complete their second rounds – posted a two-under 70 to move to 10 under.

Tournament organisers put groups out in threesomes and off a two-tee start to try and make up for lost time, with heavy rain falling for the majority of a cold and breezy third day and greenkeepers regularly attempting to remove standing water from several greens as conditions worsened.

Koepka was one under through six holes and four clear of Rahm, who had slipped back to nine under after back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth, when officials suspended play for the rest of the day at 3.15pm local time (8.15pm GMT) due to a waterlogged course.

Rahm and Koepka both got up and down from off the green to save par at the first as they began their third rounds, and then took advantage of the par-five next, with Koepka scrambling from the sand to make birdie as Rahm tapped in after narrowly missing his eagle try.

The duo two-putted for par at the third before another up and down from a bunker was enough for Koepka to move three ahead, as Rahm made bogey after almost chipping in from the back of the green.

Rahm fell further behind when he three-putted from long range at the fifth, as Koepka two-putted from a similar distance to maintain his blemish-free start, with both players making their par threes at the sixth.

The horn was sounded when they were on the seventh green, with Rahm returning on Sunday morning to a 10-foot birdie putt and Koepka having a similar distance left for par.

Amateur Sam Bennett, completing the final threeball, is seven strokes off the pace in third after playing his opening six holes in two over, while Patrick Cantlay and Matt Fitzpatrick both took advantage of a brief lull in the rain to move to five under.

Cantlay and Fitzpatrick were both three under for the day with five and seven holes left to complete respectively, with Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland also in the group eight strokes back heading into what is set to be a marathon Sunday in Georgia.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is two under for the round with six to play, while Tiger Woods sits bottom of the 54 players who made it through to the weekend after experiencing a nightmare start to his third round.

Woods, who only made the cut on the number after rounds of 74 and 73, struggled in the cold conditions as he followed bogeys at the 10th and 14th by finding water on his way to a double-bogey at the par-five 15th.

The five-time Masters champion, who equalled a tournament record of 23 consecutive cuts made at Augusta National, then double-bogeyed the par-three next and fell six over for his round after putting his tee shot in the water.

Play will resume early on Sunday morning, with officials still hopeful of getting 72 holes completed by Sunday evening as scheduled.