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No one had an easier time Saturday morning at the Masters than Brooks Koepka. He didn’t have to play, and he still had the lead going into a cold, soggy and brutally difficult weekend at Augusta National.
Jon Rahm did remarkably well to stay close. Tiger Woods managed to survive, tying the Masters record by making the cut for the 23rd consecutive time.
Cameron Young summed it for some three dozen players who were forced to handle the rain, the cold and a course that played longer than it ever has.
“It’s basically impossible,” Young said. “I really don’t know what you’re supposed to do.”
Rahm played the entire back nine in severe conditions and finished off a 3–under 69 to get within two shots of Koepka, who was among the fortunate to get his second round out of the way on Friday before the bad weather moved in and changed everything.
Temperatures dipped below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Shots were skidding into the rain-soaked greens. The golf ball was going nowhere. Players were hitting fairway metal into the the par-4 18th and hardly anyone could reach the par 5s in two.
Koepka missed all of this, having played bogey-free in the breezy warmth Friday for a 67 that put him at 12-under 132. Rahm was two shots behind at 134, making this the first time in Masters history that two players were at double digits under par through 36 holes.
This was all about survival, and no one paid a price quite like Justin Thomas.
