Three mature trees collapsed on the 17th hole. Two stoppages in play complicated the organizers’ plans. Brooks Koepka dominates outrageously after two rounds. The Masters Tournament is “like no other,” if its motto is to be believed. There are not even two rounds completed that Augusta National is already making its own.
Since the beginning of the week, fans, players and especially organizers have feared Mother Nature. Weather radars did not bode well for the 87th edition of the world’s most prestigious tournament. Experts predicted heavy rain, strong winds and severe thunderstorms starting Friday afternoon.
Thursday went off without a hitch, in oppressive heat. The second round offered golfers with an early start conditions similar to those of the day before. Comedian Brooks Koepka took advantage of his start shortly after dawn to crush all competition. He handed over a card of 67 (-5) to climb to -12 and get ahead of Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland by five strokes.
As in any major tournament, no one can predict the outcome. However, if Koepka puts on the green jacket on Sunday afternoon, we will have to think back to this stroke of luck to have been among the first to start on Friday.
The rest of the day passed without disruption, until mid-afternoon. At 3:07 p.m., superintendents sounded their blue horns to suspend operations. The sky had darkened, the wind had picked up and a few drops were splashing on the caps of the players.
Just 21 minutes later, play resumed. That gave Jon Rahm, Koepka’s chaser, time to get angry on the eighth hole and rejoice on the ninth.
At 4:22 p.m., the wind was too disturbing. The conditions had become almost impassable and the black clouds were as threatening as Popa when a member of the Paré family had the bad idea to touch his drains.
At the same time, on the 17th hole, three gigantic mature trees collapsed due to the wind. The scene, filmed by the tournament cameras, is spectacular. No one was injured, organizers confirmed.
Nearly 90 minutes later, activities were suspended until 8 a.m. on Saturday. The only problem is that according to the weather forecast, the risk of precipitation in the morning is assessed at 100%. The hypothesis of a final round played on Monday, as anticipated, is more and more likely.
This interruption will obviously be unfavorable to the competitors still in action at the time of the stoppage of play.
Rahm, in second position three strokes behind, was about to play the 10th hole. Like Cameron Young, sixth provisionally. As for Viktor Hovland, in fourth place, he started the 11th hole. These golfers could therefore have to play 26 or 27 holes this Saturday, weather permitting.
Brooks Koepka wasted no time before leaving the leading pack and heading alone to the top of the standings. The American managed to give himself an extremely comfortable lead, in particular thanks to the conditions.
The man in the yellow shoes had a birdie on the second hole and an eagle on the eighth. Two par 5s. In fact, Koepka stood out on every par 5 on the course. On the other two of the Augusta National, the 13th and the 15th, he also had two birdies. His approach to the latter was a brilliant stroke of genius.
His game of irons made the difference in this second round. He could even have increased his lead, as in the 10th, if he had capitalized on all his approaches with the putter in hand.
The point guard made only one bogey, but apart from that error, he was almost perfect.
The LIV Golf Tour player is in a class of his own. To see the quality of his game, it feels like somewhere between 2017 and 2019, when he was the best golfer on the planet and won four major tournaments.
Completely recovered from his successive left knee, right knee and hip injuries, Koepka is in control of this tournament.
Bennett. Sam Bennett is for sure the most beautiful story of the last two days. The defending winner of the American Amateur Championship holds the fort. Better still, he passes Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa, respectively first and fifth in the world ranking, for amateurs, whereas he is the amateur.
Bennett plays for Texas A University
For the second consecutive day, he handed over a card of 68 (-4) and he occupies the third provisional rank. He committed only one bogey in 36 holes.
Bennett is also talked about not only for the quality of his game, his power, his dexterity, the effect of his balls and his steely mind, but thanks to his career. On his left forearm, he got a tattoo in honor of his late father. Just before he died in 2020, Bennett’s father wrote to him on a piece of paper, “Don’t wait to do something.”
Bennett therefore kept the note and had it tattooed respecting the exact calligraphy of his father. The image has gone around the web.
Bennett has been making a name for himself for two days. And if inside all this controversy between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf series, it is rather an amateur player, not having the right to touch a penny of his reward, who put on the most prestigious jacket in the world…
When play ended on Friday, the provisional cut was at 2. Tiger Woods was also at 2. He would be the last player to avoid the ax.
The tiger seemed less affected than the day before by the weather and the difficulties caused to walk the rough terrain of Augusta National.
He looked good going, especially from the third part of the course. His tee shot on the par-3 of the sixth hole made the spectators jump. He bogeyed in the seventh round, but recovered with a birdie on the next hole.
He had reached the 12th when the alarm sounded. If he wants to stay in the game, he will have to birdie at least one to guarantee himself a place for the weekend rounds.
