AUGUSTA, Ga. — Someday on Sunday night — climate allowing, as a result of the whole lot throughout this Masters Match appears to be like that — Brooks Koepka or Jon Rahm or considered one of 52 different gamers will get to put on the jacket they really wish to throughout this journey to Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership.
It’s inexperienced.
Saturday’s climate threw the match into rigorously managed havoc, with the third spherical scheduled to renew at 8:30 a.m. Jap on Sunday. Koepka, Rahm and Sam Bennett have been to attempt to end the seventh gap, which they have been taking part in within the 3 p.m. hour on Saturday when situations turned too poor to proceed. If all goes in keeping with Augusta Nationwide’s plan, the ultimate spherical will tee off at 12:30 p.m. Jap on Sunday, with the 54 gamers paired up and taking part in from the primary and tenth tees.
Augusta Nationwide, in search of to keep away from its first Monday Masters end since 1983, used the same method in 2019’s fourth spherical, when climate led teams of three to begin from two tees.
Tee instances, after all, are solely a part of Augusta’s climate conflict plan. The membership additionally has a extremely refined, sort-of-secret weapon: an enormous, subterranean system often called SubAir that attracts moisture away from the golf course’s greens and fairways. The system has many capabilities, together with pumping recent air to help with the foundation construction of the grass. However when heavy rainfall strikes, it might siphon rainwater away from the central areas of the course to locations on the property which might be extra prone to be out of play.
Gamers love the SubAir system as a result of it might hold the velocity of a course’s devilish greens constant regardless of a downpour, in addition to make fairways drier, which results in more durable touchdown surfaces and longer drives off the tee. The system emits a low hum, a sound the highest gamers have come to understand.
“They simply flip it on,” Viktor Hovland marveled final yr, “and in a single day it’s a very completely different golf course.”
Fred {Couples} — sure, 63-year-old Fred {Couples} — made the minimize.
Let’s be trustworthy: It’s just about sure that Fred {Couples} is not going to win the Masters this yr. He may even end final, or near it. However Fred {Couples}, the 1992 champion, continues to be within the discipline, which is greater than a few of his (a lot) youthful counterparts can say.
At 63, he’s the oldest participant ever to make the Masters minimize.
“There actually isn’t a secret,” {Couples} stated. “Everybody loves this place. That doesn’t imply you’re going to play nicely. If I hit it actually stable, I’m iron participant.”
{Couples}, who has lifetime taking part in privileges on the Masters because of his 1992 win, final performed the third and fourth rounds in 2018, when he completed in a tie for thirty eighth. His final top-10 end got here in 2010, when he positioned sixth.
“I’m excited to make the minimize,” he stated. “That’s why I come right here. The final 4 years have been actually mediocre golf — possibly one yr I used to be semi-close to creating the minimize — however that’s my goal, and I did it. It’s not like, ‘Ha, ha, ha. Now I can screw round and play 36 holes for enjoyable.’ I’m going to attempt to compete. Play pairing with some youthful guys and watch them play.”
Certainly, he is aware of he’ll compete solely a lot. He’s high quality with that.
“I can’t compete with Viktor Hovland or Jon Rahm or anyone, however I can compete with myself, and that’s actually why I come,” he stated.
A number of notable scores to date within the interrupted third spherical.
There’s nonetheless loads of third-round golf to play, however the spherical has not delivered as a lot of the motion that gamers need: Solely 11 improved their scores. Three — Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick and Sungjae Im — picked up three strokes. Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, improved by two, and Koepka brightened his rating by one.
Phil Mickelson stays at 4 below par for the match after bogeying two of the final three holes earlier than play was suspended on Saturday. Justin Rose began the spherical at 4 below, obtained to 6 below and was again to 4 below when everybody headed indoors.
Dustin Johnson, who received the match in 2020 with the bottom rating within the competitors’s historical past, is six over for the spherical, placing him in a tie for 51st at 5 over.