The Masters: Before play was halted at Augusta National due to downed trees and impending storms during the second round of The Masters, Brooks Koepka had established a commanding lead.
After his triumph on Sunday at the LIV Golf League competition in Orlando, Koepka shot a seven-under 65 on the first day, sharing the early lead with Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland, before shooting another strong round on Friday morning to take the lead.
The four-time major champion shot a flawless 67, moving him to 12 under, and the only thing stopping the American from taking a record-breaking lead at halfway was a sluggish putter.
After being suspended for just over 20 minutes due to the possibility of thunderstorms, play started up again at 3.28 p.m. local time (8.28 p.m. BST) but was again called off less than an hour later due to the possibility of more bad weather, and with 39 players still having to finish their second rounds.
The wind caused three trees to topple to the left of the 17th tee, but no injuries were recorded, according to a statement from tournament officials. The second round will continue at 8 am local time after play was formally suspended for the day (1 pm BST).
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How Koepka overtook competitors at The Masters
Koepka, a former world number one, performed a great up-and-down from a greenside bunker to birdie the par-five second, holed from 10 feet to save par at the following hole, and finished a run of pars by hitting a great approach shot to set up a 15-foot eagle at the par-five eighth.
When a short pitch led up a close-range birdie at the par-five 13th hole, Koepka increased his lead to four strokes. However, the American was unable to take advantage of another opportunity on the following hole, so he missed birdie opportunities from inside 10 feet on his next two holes.
After being exonerated of a possible rule infraction on the same hole the day before, Koepka birdied the par-five 15th with a two-putt from 20 feet, and two-putted pars on the next three holes finished the flawless round.
Koepka declared, “I was extremely solid. I actually didn’t do all that much wrong. Maybe a handful of my putts were affected by the speed. In the last stretch, I wasn’t hitting them hard enough, but I was striking the ball pretty well and leaving it in nice locations. You must take advantage of these par-five holes by making birdies on them, and that is what you must do.”
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