Masters eclipse steals spotlight from Augusta National

AUGUSTA, Georgia : The course at Augusta National Golf Club is typically the star attraction during Masters week but on Monday the famed layout was momentarily eclipsed by a celestial event that left captivated golfers and spectators looking skyward.

At Augusta National, a horticultural masterpiece whose flora provides a vibrant backdrop to one of the world's most exclusive golf courses, the sky slightly darkened and temperatures dropped during a practice round as the area experienced a partial solar eclipse.

"This is timed up pretty good; get to watch the end of the world at Augusta National, right?" joked reigning British Open champion Brian Harmon.

While Augusta is not in the path of totality - when the sun is completely obscured by the moon - the spectacle was enough that the driving range lights came on and almost everyone on the course turned into sky gazers over the roughly 2-1/2 hour event.

"Pretty exciting," said Austrian golfer Sepp Straka, who is making his third Masters start this week. "I don't know how many people have seen an eclipse at Augusta National."

Those at the year's first major on Monday received all-green protective solar eclipse glasses complete with the Masters logo on each side. Many started putting them on around 1:50 p.m. ET (1750 GMT) when the partial eclipse began.

By 3:08 p.m. ET, the deepest point of the partial eclipse when the moon covered about 80 per cent of the sun, the temperature dropped and even those at Augusta National preparing for the year's first major could not help but look up.

"Every 10 minutes I would borrow someone's glasses and I made sure at 3:08 to look up. It was pretty wild," said Sahith Theegala, who finished ninth in his Masters debut last year.

"For about 45 minutes, I