Super Soaker Saturday: Brooks Koepka's Masters lead swells to four before rain stops play
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Long is the operative word today in the 87th Masters Tournament. As in, a long, wet course and a long day’s work ahead of the participants.
There’s also this: The field has a long way to go to catch Brooks Koepka, who shows no signs of slowing down. He wasn’t as sharp from tee to green in his six-plus holes on the course Saturday, but his short game bailed him out, keeping him under par for the third round.
Koepka, who shared the first-round lead and was up by two shots after 36 holes, now has a four-shot lead after play was suspended at 3:16 p.m. No one played more than 13 holes of the third round because of standing water on the greens.
”I think it was spot on,” Koepka said of the timing of ending play for the day.
After opening with rounds of 65-67, Koepka is 1 under through six holes of his third round.
“It’s obviously super difficult,” Koepka said of a wet Augusta National Golf Club, which is playing much longer than the 7,545 yards listed on the scorecard. “Ball's not going anywhere. You've got rain to deal with, and it's freezing cold. It doesn't make it easy. You know it was going to be a difficult day. You've just got to grind through it and try to salvage something.”
It will be more of the same today. Overnight rain-soaked fairways will give little roll to tee shots but there will be soft, receptive greens when Koepka and the other 53 players who made the cut restart play at 8:30 a.m.
Koepka will be facing an 11-foot par putt on No. 7. Since the 13th hole in the first round, Koepka has gone 29 holes without a bogey.
“That seventh green was soaked,” Koepka said. “So I’m glad we stopped.”
Daylight permitting – don’t even think about a sudden-death playoff – Koepka will have 30 holes to play today. He has the final 12 of the third round and the 18-hole final round.
That’s a lot of holes but, other than Jon Rahm, those in chase mode have a lot of ground to make up on Koepka, who hasn’t made it a secret how much he wants a green jacket.
Rahm, who is paired with Koepka, is 1 over on his round and four behind.
“A lot of holes (left),” Rahm said. “But feeling good, feeling strong, and keep it going.”
Amateur Sam Bennett is next, but he’s seven shots back. The 23-year-old Texas A&M player bogeyed his first two holes and is 2- over for the round after six holes. He’s paired with Koepka and Rahm.
“I'm just trying to enjoy it,” Bennett said. “I feel comfortable out there. The bogeys on 1 and 2 weren't because of nerves. They were simply just bad swings. It was brutal out there. I think they honestly could have called it about 45 minutes earlier, but they tried their best.”
After Bennett, eight shots back, are four pros: Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, current U.S. Open champ Matthew Fitzpatrick, former FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland.
Fitzpatrick and Cantlay are 3 under on their rounds while Morikawa and Hovland are 1 over. Cantlay has 25 holes left, Fitzpatrick has 27 and Morikawa and Hovland have 29.
Koepka could join exclusive club with Masters win
Koepka has carried the LIV Golf tour flag this week, though he hasn’t worn his LIV team logo on his shirt as others have. The Saudi-backed tour only plays 54-hole tournaments, not the normal 72, so it’s only natural to wonder if stamina could be a factor in the finish.
“I don't think that means much, obviously,” Rahm said of the 54-hole weeks. “When you're in the position we're in, adrenaline kicks in and it doesn't really matter.”
“I'm not too concerned about playing however many holes we've got left,” said Koepka, who won last Sunday’s LIV event. “It's part of the deal. I'm pretty sure I'll be up for it considering it is the Masters. So I don't think anybody should have a problem with that.”
All eyes are on Koepka, who is chasing his fifth major championship but first in nearly four years. Should he win, Koepka would be the 20th golfer to win at least five majors. Tiger Woods, who is second on that list with 15 majors, won’t be adding to that total. After making the cut on the number, Woods is in last place after being 6 over through seven holes of the third round.
Koepka wasn’t as sharp on Saturday as he had been in the first two rounds, so he might have welcomed the suspension of play and expected better weather. After being in just one bunker in the first two rounds, he was bunkered in two of the first four on Saturday, saving par both times. He also found a greenside bunker on the seventh hole, blasting out before play was suspended.
Also, after missing just one fairway on Saturday off the tee, he hit only one on the four non-par 3 holes he played on Saturday, but his putter continued to stay hot. He had 27 putts on Thursday and Friday. Through his six holes on Saturday, he needed his putter just eight times.
“You've got to make some pressure putts,” Koepka said.
Koepka also made a number of mid-range putts on Friday to keep his round going.
“I think they were just big momentum putts, and I think that's one of the things that's kind of been lacking,” he said then.
In the rain and cold on Saturday morning, 39 players completed their second rounds. It was in the books at 10:52 a.m. and, by 11:30, the third round started in threesomes off both tees. There was little time for a break for Cameron Smith, who was in the final group to finish the second round on Saturday morning and was back off in the first group of the third round, 38 minutes later.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Masters 2023: Can Brooks Koepka survive after rain stops Round 3?
