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Agence France-Presse

American Brooks Koepka has his fifth major title in his sights as he heads into what will be a hectic final day showdown with Spain’s Jon Rahm at the rain-affected Masters.
Koepka has a four-stroke lead over Rahm but has a marathon day ahead of him with the leading pair still having 30 holes to complete after Saturday’s third round was cut short due to rain.
Should the Floridian triumph it will be his first major since the PGA Championship at Bethpage in 2019 and since he left the PGA Tour for the breakaway, Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
The prospect of a LIV player putting on the green jacket is an uncomfortable one for the American golf establishment but creates a fascinating subplot to what is so often a day of drama.

The third round will resume Sunday at 8.30am local time with the final 18 holes expected to begin four hours later off the first and 10th tees in pairings.
With puddles forming on the greens and players battling hard against weather more akin to a British Open, organisers had little choice but to end Saturday’s action early.
In wet, cold and windy conditions, players huddled under umbrellas in between shots and Tiger Woods wore a woollen hat over the top of his baseball cap.
The weather forecast for Sunday is positive, however, with temperatures expected to rise to above 15.5 Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) and much less chance of rain.
In round three, Rahm and Koepka both made birdies on the par-five second but bogeys on the par-three fourth and par-four fifth from the Spaniard left Koepka with his four-shot gap.
Koepka, at 13-under-par, was on the green at the seventh hole with an 11-foot par putt when play was halted while Rahm, on nine under, had a nine-foot birdie putt.
With the 32-year-old’s performances in the LIV Golf League, including last week’s win at Orlando, not counting towards the Official World Golf Rankings, he is placed at 118th in the world.
That ranking more reflects the bitter nature of the conflict between LIV and the PGA Tour, who unlike the rebels have places on the board of the rankings body.
Koepka’s formal ranking would make him the lowest-ranked player to win the Masters since the rankings system was introduced in 1986.
The current holder of that distinction is Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who was ranked 69th when he won the green jacket in 2009.
The winner on Sunday will collect a Masters record prize of US$3.24 million unless it is amateur Sam Bennett, who plays on the college circuit for Texas A&M.
Bennett will start on Sunday in third place on the leader board, having bogeyed the par-five second, seven strokes off the lead as he bids to become the first amateur to win the Masters.
Patrick Cantlay handled the challenging conditions well as he rose up the leader board with three straight birdies from the second hole and he was five-under overall by the 13th hole.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, the reigning US Open champion, was one of three players level with Cantlay on five under after making three birdies before play was stopped.

Veteran Phil Mickelson, also on the LIV tour, produced a superb long, curling putt on the par-three sixth for his second birdie of the day to briefly reach six under but followed that with successive bogeys.
Woods had to battle to avoid the cut but the 15-time major winner may have wished he had failed after a nightmare start to his third round.
Starting on the 10th hole, Woods made two bogeys before double bogeys on the par-five 15th and par-three 16th left him bottom of the leader board on six over overall.
By making the cut, he matched the record of Fred Couples and Gary Player with 23 consecutive made cuts at the Masters.
Woods hasn’t missed a Masters cut since 1996 when he was playing as an amateur.


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PGA Tour

Masters: Brooks Koepka threatens a LIV Golf triumph but rain sets up marathon climax

Brooks Koepka tees off on the fourth hole during a rain-disrupted third round of the Masters. Photo: TNS

Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and amateur Sam Bennett on the first hole on Saturday. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Sam Bennett will be aiming to become the first amateur to win the Masters. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

The Masters: Brooks Koepka leads by three as trees fall and Round 2 is suspended

The aftermath of a fallen tree on the 17th hole during the second round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo: TNS

Brooks Koepka of the United States hits off the first tee during the second round of the Masters. Photo: Kyodo

Brooks Koepka tees off the 18th hole. Photo: TNS

2023 Masters: Hovland, Rahm and Koepka share lead at Augusta, but Tiger Woods could be fighting to avoid cut

Brooks Koepka (left) and caddie Ricky Elliott stand on the 18th fairway during the first round of the Masters.  Photo: EPA-EFE

Viktor Hovland chips out of a bunker on 18 during the first round of the 2023 Masters. Photo: AFP

Tiger Woods hits an approach at Augusta National. Photo: Xinhua

Sport

Golf

30 holes still to play for the leading group, with Koepka leading Jon Rahm by four shots after third day
Koepka could claim his first major since leaving PGA Tour for LIV, raising prospect of a player from the Saudi-backed breakaway putting on the green jacket


Koepka could claim his first major since leaving PGA Tour for LIV, raising prospect of a player from the Saudi-backed breakaway putting on the green jacket.


The Masters

Phil Mickelson

Brooks Koepka

Jon Rahm