LIVE: The weather at Augusta National for the first round of this year’s Masters was about as good as the players could have wished – and the big names took advantage, with the trio of Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, and LIV’s Brooks Koepka all nailing seven-under rounds.
But the weather is about to take a severe turn for the worse – and it could cause a 40-year-first at the famous tournament.
It’s been four decades since the Masters was forced to finish on a Monday due to weather, but the forecast for this weekend in Georgia makes that a very real possibility.
Friday (local time/Saturday morning AEST) is set to see rain strike the course, with most forecasts showing a 90 per cent chance of rain.
Catch over 120 hours of live coverage during The Masters on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
That has forced organisers to push tee times forward by half an hour – and it’s good news for the early starters, who could get lucky and complete their round before the wet weather forces likely delays.
Should the weather force some players to complete their rounds on Saturday (local time), there’s not going to be any relief. In fact, the forecast is about as bad as it gets – brutal winds, chilling temperatures topping out around 10 degrees, and plenty of rain.
Sunday (local) should see the rain greatly lessen and perhaps dry up completely. But there’s no doubt the next couple of days are going to be a frustrating experience for the players.
“Obviously we don’t know how bad it’s going to get, but I tend to think that it’s easier to make up some ground on the easier days,’’ Hovland said. “So, if you start with a really low round and it gets very difficult, it’s kind of easier to protect the score a little bit compared to if you’re five, six, seven shots back. It’s really difficult to make up that much ground if this place is playing very difficult.
“So, obviously getting off to a nice start is key this week.’’
MASTERS CONTROVERSY BREAKS OUT OVER ’STAGGERING MOMENT’ AS ‘OBVIOUS’ BREACH SPOTTED
DAY REDEMPTION TAKES HUGE STEP AMID SCOTT CHARGE AS LIV VILLAIN SPOOKS PGA: MASTERS WRAP
Fallout continues over CADDY CONTROVERSY | 02:09
FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD (PAR OR BETTER)
65 – Brooks Koepka (USA), Viktor Hovland (NOR), Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 – Jason Day (AUS), Cameron Young (USA)
68 – Gary Woodland (USA), Scottie Scheffler (USA), Sam Bennett (USA), Sam Burns (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA), Adam Scott (AUS), Shane Lowry (IRL)
69 – Justin Rose (ENG), Tony Finau (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA), Collin Morikawa (USA)
70 – Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Keegan Bradley (USA), Scott Stallings (USA), Chris Kirk (USA), Justin Thomas (USA), Tom Kim (KOR), Ryan Fox (NZL), Cameron Smith (AUS), Sepp Straka (AUT)
71 – Joaquin Niemann (CHI), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Im Sung-jae (KOR), Dustin Johnson (USA), Patrick Reed (USA), Fred Couples (USA), Phil Mickelson (USA), Harris English (USA), Patrick Cantlay (USA), Max Homa (USA), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
72 – Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Harold Varner III (USA), Talor Gooch (USA), Kevin Kisner (USA), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Abraham Ancer (MEX), Mike Weir (CAN), Rory McIlroy (NIR)
Lee reflects upon rollercoaster round | 01:40
SATURDAY TEE TIMES (ALL TIMES AEST, AUSSIES IN BOLD, * = FEATURE GROUPS)
Friday
9.30pm – Jose Maria Olazabal, Cameron Champ
9.42pm – Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Moore, Aldrich Potgieter (A)
9.54pm – J. T. Poston, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau
10.06pm – Bernhard Langer, Mito Pereira, Ben Carr (A)
*10.18pm – Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka
10.30pm – Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
10.42pm – Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
10.54pm – Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox
11.06pm. – Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Gordon Sargent (A)
11.18pm. – Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
*11.36pm – Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose
11.48pm – Matthew Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa
Saturday
*12am – Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett (A)
12.12am – Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
12.24am – Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau
12.36am – Mike Weir
12.48am – Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Matthew McClean (A)
1am – Sandy Lyle, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
1.12am – Fred Couples, Russell Henley, Alex Noren
1.24am – Adrian Meronk, Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen
1.42am – Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee, Harrison Crowe (A)
1.54am – Sergio Garcia, Kazuki Higa, Keith Mitchell
2.06am – Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson, Sahith Theegala
2.18am – Shane Lowry, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters
2.30am – Bubba Watson, Seamus Power, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (A)
2.42am – Abraham Ancer, Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
*2.54am – Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
3.06am – Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama
*3.18am – Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
3.30am – Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im
COVERAGE INFORMATION
Featured group coverage will begin on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo at the earlier time of 10.15pm AEST. Featured groups are donated with * above.
LIVE On The Range will now air on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo from 10.30pm AEST.
LIVE BLOG
