Jon Rahm hoping weather does not hinder his pursuit of Brooks Koepka at Augusta

Brooks Koepka held a three-stroke lead at the halfway point of the 87th Masters tournament after adding a bogey-free 67 to his opening round of 65 at Augusta National. Koepka’s halfway total of 12 under par is the equal third lowest in tournament history. US Amateur champion Sam Bennett was his nearest challenger on eight under, with Rory McIlroy likely to miss the cut after a second-round 77 left him five over par. Tiger Woods was two over par after 11 holes of his second round.

Midway through Friday’s play, Rahm was on nine under par when play was suspended for the second time due to three trees crashing down across the 17th tee in high winds. Play was later abandoned for the day and was scheduled to resume on Saturday at 8am local time, though heavy rain was expected.

No spectators were injured in the tree incident, which proved a topic for discussion among golfing commentators. Sam Bennett expressed his confidence after consecutive rounds of 68 on his Masters debut.

Koepka was the only one of three players to make an eagle on the par-five eighth. The hole yielded 42 birdies and played to an average of 4.488. Cameron Smith was the only player to birdie the 30-over-par fifth hole. The weather forecast predicted heavy rain on Saturday morning and throughout the day.



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