‘Can’t feel your hands’: Australian hopes wash away at stormy Masters

British Open champion Cameron Smith summed up the general feeling of despair as hopes of an Australian Masters triumph were washed away at Augusta National.

Former runner-ups Smith, Jason Day and 2013 winner Adam Scott were playing an impossible game of catch-up when Saturday’s third round was abandoned after more than five hours of relentless rain.

“It’s a hard tee shot in this stuff, even harder when you can’t feel your hands and it’s pissing down rain,” Smith said as the field tried desperately to plough on in the freezing conditions in Georgia.

“I’ve played in misty cold but not rainy cold. It was tough to keep everything warm and everything dry. The golf course is just brutal too.”

After starting the third round in a tie for sixth at five under, Day remains the best-placed Australian in a share of eighth. But the former world No 1 is a distant nine shots behind American leader Brooks Koepka after slipping to four under with consecutive bogeys on the 4th and 5th holes.

He briefly climbed to six under with a birdie on the par-5 second but, in reality, Day’s chances evaporated with a late collapse on Friday.

He was outright second behind Koepka before leaking four shots in his last four holes after dumping his ball in the water on the 15th and racking up a disastrous double-bogey seven.

While Day, playing in the best of the conditions, blew a golden opportunity to finally win the Masters, Smith was philosophical about having encountered the worst of the weather.

“A little unlucky with the draw - you win some, you lose some,” the world No 6 said as he languished in a share of 23rd position at one under through 13 holes of his third round.

Like last year, when he finished third, any faint hopes of Smith staging a