Koepka extends Masters lead to four shots before rain stops play

AUGUSTA, Georgia: Brooks Koepka extended his lead at the Masters to four shots over Spain’s world No. 3 Jon Rahm on Saturday before third-round play at soggy Augusta National was suspended for the day due to heavy rain.

With puddles forming on the greens and players battling hard against weather more akin to a British Open, organizers decided to leave the remainder of the contest for Sunday.

In wet, cold and windy conditions, players huddled under umbrellas in between shots and Tiger Woods wore a woollen hat over the top of his baseball cap.

“It’s obviously super difficult. Ball’s not going anywhere,” said Koepka, who played his six holes of round three at 1-under.

“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.”

The weather forecast for Sunday is positive, however, with temperatures expected to rise to above 60 degrees F (15.5 C) and much less chance of rain.

The third round will resume Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with the final round expected to begin four hours later off the first and 10th tees in pairings.

That will make for a packed day of action with the leaders set to play 30 holes.

A total of 39 players, Rahm among them, had returned Saturday morning to finish their second rounds, interrupted by stormy weather on Friday. The Spaniard cut Koepka’s lead down to two strokes before third-round play got under way.

In round three, Rahm and Koepka both made birdies on the par-5 second but bogeys on the par-3 fourth and par-4 fifth from the Spaniard left Koepka with his four-shot gap.

Koepka, at 13-under par, was on the green at the