OT: Masters leaderboard...first major of the year

[Blakeon18]

[2023 Masters leaderboard] - Google Search

Lots of good stories...weather to be a factor...LIV players in the field.

 

[Blakeon18]

Day One: very benign conditions...low scores...big-time players on the first
page of the leaderboard.

Rahm/Koepka/Hovland lead at 7 under....65
Defending champ Scheffler...tied for 6th...4 under...68....missed a ton
of very makeable putts.
Tiger...tied for 53rd...2 over 74...not much good/not much bad...making
cut kinda doubtful but within range.

Friday: warm temps/rain/wind/maybe stop and start play due to lightning.
Will be interesting to see how that affects the scoring.

Nasty coldish weather coming in Saturday.

 

[Blakeon18]

I see that Friday tee times have been moved up by 30 minutes...trying to
avoid the worst of the weather in late afternoon.

 

[Blakeon18]

Day 2 Friday: benign weather early....those with early tee times had a big advantage.
Nasty weather arrived in the PM...play suspended with many on course. They have just started play Saturday.
Cool...50 degree high. Rain all day/some wind. Sounds like they hope everyone can finish round 3....just play
thru the weather. Sunday forecast actually pretty good.

Koepka finished second round...at 12 under....65-67...healthy and playing brilliantly.
Rahm second at 9 under...7 or 8 holes left to finish second round....playing as I type.

Great story...2022 U.S. Amateur champ Bennett third with 68-68...4 back of leader.
Seems unflappable....so far.

Tiger at 2 over....that is the cut line for now....playing #12...great tee shot.

 

[Blakeon18]

Second round over...course played very tough this morning. Those finishing round 2
struggled big-time. Cold/wet/some wind/course played looong. Some fairway metals to par fours...lay-ups
galore on par fives.

Rahm played very well....closed to within 2 of Koepka.
Tiger made cut....3 over...on the number.

3rd round: weather forecast is for similar stuff this PM....maybe worse.

Masters folks got none of what they want: sunshine/fast fairways/fast greens.
It was fun watching....not so much playing.

Hope all finish round 3 today and for some decent weather Sunday [which is forecast].

Amateur Sam Bennett is third...4 back. Would be a Cinderella win...the 2 ahead of him
are studs...a healthy Koepka and always stud-like Rahm.

 

[UcMiami]

Play suspended again - 3rd round to be completed on Sunday. Huge advantage to the top of the board as they will play up to 7 more holes in the predicted better weather on Sunday.

 

[Blakeon18]

TV schedule for Sunday:

CBS starts coverage at 8:30...for completion of 3rd round.
CBS continues coverage at 12:30 for final round.

Weather seems to be fine.
Koepka increased his lead to 4 over Rahm. Their group still has about 11 holes to play in 3rd round.

 

[Blakeon18]

Much improved weather on Sunday. Many excellent scores [Spieth 66, Mickelson 65, others].
But the really good scores were from players who were 'back'...too far back to win unless they got help
from the leaders. They got it from Koepka and Hovland but not from Rahm who finished with a 69 and a
12 under total...winning by 4.

Not much drama on the back nine...Rahm was just too solid tee to green all day long.
This will move him to World #1 [I think]...his game and attitude may keep him there for a while.

Tiger made the cut...withdrew early Saturday AM...played poorly in 3rd round...did not look good
physically at all. Last Masters? Second major of the year [PGA] in Mid-May. Will he play?
Doubtful imo. Reports say his swing is good....not enough tournament reps is a problem.
Simply walking is very difficult. Can play using a cart just fine....no carts allowed in PGA
events. Will he play on Senior Tour which allows carts? 46 now...think you have to be 50.