The game was stopped for the first time due to the storm that ended up arriving with a major scare without injuries
The Spanish Jon Rahm has 9 holes pending, three shots behind the leader Koepka
MADRID, 8 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Augusta Masters was forced to suspend the second day this Friday due to the fall of three trees, without regretting injuries, with the arrival of the dreaded storm, with the Spanish Jon Rahm fighting to recover the leadership held by the American Brooks Koepka with his calm -12.
The part known days before pointed out that the weather would play its role in the first ‘major’ of the season and it will be like that. Not on Thursday, where Rahm shone with a -7 despite starting the tournament with a double-bogey, or for golfers who played Friday morning at Augusta National, like Koepka.
However, in the middle of the afternoon shift came the first suspension horn, with Rahm taking the ball out of the ‘bunker’ on the 7th hole, with par on the day at that time. The first break was barely half an hour and the Basque made the complicated ‘putt’ that had been left and then signed ‘birdies’ at 8 and 9 to get to -9.
With the rain intensifying and the horns ready again, the noise was heard earlier in the 17th hole: three trees uprooted by the wind due to the panic of the attendees. The organization confirmed hours later that the incident did not leave any injuries, in addition to the postponement of the day to Saturday, the worst day according to that report, with a drastic drop in temperature and a lot of rain.
The outcome on Monday, as it happened for the last time 40 years ago in the second green jacket of the Spanish Severiano Ballesteros, seems to win whole while everything is to be decided. Koepka, the most toned player in LIV Golf after his recent victory in Orlando, can wait calmly, like the amateur Sam Bennett (-8), Collin Morikawa (-6), Jason Day (-5) or Phil Mickelson (- 4).
For many others, the odyssey will be greater, trying to complete the second day and start the third if the rain does not make it unfeasible. Rahm, who seeks to emulate ‘Seve’ and achieve his second ‘big’, sees the challenge rise but he is in the ointment, not another favorite like Rory McIlroy, ruled out by the Northern Irishman on the cut day (+5) in his umpteenth attempt to complete the ‘Grand Slam’.
Meanwhile, Sergio García, champion in 2017, will have to improve a lot to avoid elimination, with +4 on the 14th hole, and the also Spanish José María Olazabal signed another 77 as in his debut, dissatisfied with his game, to say goodbye to the ‘ major’ which he won twice. The American Tiger Woods is at +2, right where the cut was marked, with seven holes to play.