The Australian contingent at the Masters has fallen off the pace after a soggy day at Augusta National where a two-man shootout now looms.
Brooks Koepka stood tall at the top of the leaderboard during miserable conditions, while world No.3 Jon Rahm also kept the pace to create daylight to the rest of the field.
Koepka is the clubhouse leader after six holes in the third round — which was suspended due to heavy rain — with a four-shot buffer to Rahm.
It should be said, however, that when play resumes on Sunday (at 10.30pm AEST), Rahm has the chance for a two-shot swing on the seventh green.
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Australia’s best hope is Jason Day, but at nine shots back at four-under, a challenge for the green jacket now seems unlikely.
Day has paid a heavy price for dropping four quick shots at the end of his second round, with the weather turning, making it harder to make a move.
He fired a birdie on the second hole of his third round before back-to-back bogeys at No.4 and No.5 stopped any momentum in its tracks.
“I’m actually very disappointed with how I finished,” Day said on Saturday.
“Being decently close to where Brooks was going into the weekend, you never know how it goes, and obviously going from 9 to 5 (under par) was a bit of a kick in the gut.”
Two other Australians made the cut in Adam Scott and Cameron Smith, while Min Woo Lee and Harrison Crowe bowed out after two rounds.
Smith has been steady, posting an even-par second round while he is one-over after 13 holes in his third round, leaving him at one-under and tied for 23rd for the tournament.
Scott is one shot further back, tied for 28th after a poor start to his third round.
The 2013 Masters champion carded four bogeys in his first 11 holes but responded with a stunning birdie at the par-three 12th, and another at the 13th.
– Koepka extends Masters lead before rain stops play –
In round three, Rahm and Koepka both made birdies on the par-5 second but bogeys on the par-3 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 9-under, had a nine-foot birdie putt.
Koepka plays in the breakaway LIV Golf League and with his performances on that tour, including his win at Orlando last week, 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 Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the established PGA Tour and DP World Tour, who unlike the rebels have places on the board of the rankings body.
Koepka is a four-time major winner but his 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.
Amateur Sam Bennett was in third place on the leaderboard, having bogeyed the par-5 second, seven strokes behind US countryman Koepka as he bids to become the first amateur to win the Masters.
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– Tiger makes Masters cut –
Patrick Cantlay handled the challenging conditions well as he rose up the leaderboard with three straight birdies from the second hole and he was five-under overall through 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-3 sixth for his second birdie of the day to briefly reach six-under but followed that with successive bogeys.
Tiger 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.
Woods, starting on the 10th hole, made two bogeys before double bogeys on the par-5 15th and par-3 16th left him bottom of the leaderboard on six-over overall.
By making the cut, Woods 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.
MASTERS LEADERBOARD — ROUND 3 (SUSPENDED)
1. Brooks Koepka: -13 thru 6
2. Jon Rahm: -9 thru 6
3. Sam Bennett: -6 thru 6
=4. Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick -5
=8: Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Joaquin Niemann, Justin Rose -4
AUSTRALIANS
T8 Jason Day -4
T 21 Cam Smith -1
T28 Adam Scott E
