Brooks Koepka widened the gap at the of the Masters Tournament leaderboard to four shots in the early stages of the third round before play was suspended for the day on Saturday afternoon following a heavy downpour.
The LIV player had held a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage after Spain’s Jon Rahm signed for a 69 to close the gap when he returned to complete his weather-disrupted second round early on day three.
Despite the difficult playing conditions, the pair both took advantage of the par-five second, but with Rahm making back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth and Koepka safely parring those holes, the American found himself with a four-shot cushion.
Saturday was testing. It required grit and determination. But, the real test is tomorrow, when the final round begins and the final chapter of the 2023 Masters is written. #themasters pic.twitter.com/6jX5NzZ7lu
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2023
And with no sign of the rain stopping, the hooter sounded as the final group made their way up the seventh hole and no further play was possible on day three.
Reflecting on a testing start to the third round, Koepka said: “It’s obviously super difficult. The ball’s not going anywhere. You’ve got rain to deal with and it’s freezing cold. It doesn’t make it easy.
“You’ve got to make some pressure putts. You know it was going to be a difficult day. You’ve just got to grind through it and try to salvage something.
“I’m not too concerned about playing 29 holes or however many holes we’ve got left.
