Twenty-five minutes into the break at Augusta with Rahm five behind Koepka

A storm forced the organization to stop play in the second round of the Augusta Masters, this Friday at 9:07 pm Spanish peninsular time, 3:07 pm in Georgia. The weather forecast warned that lightning would appear in the mid-afternoon and they missed their appointment on a day where the weather worsened by the minute. The game, however, was able to resume after twenty-five minutes.

Jon Rahm was third at the time play was suspended, ready to putt for par on the par-four 7th hole. At -7, with no birdies or bogeys on a day he was not comfortable with, Rahm was within five shots of Brooks Koepka, leader with -12 and finished his round, and one of Sam Bennett, surprisingly who was second with -8 after five birdies and a bogey on the day.

As expected, the course conditions favored the men who started the morning shift in Augusta, who took advantage of them to launch themselves towards the first places. Koepka did it with an imperial return of an eagle and three birdies to gain another five hits on the field and put himself in double figures under par.

A few minutes later Bennett completed his comeback, a big surprise in these early days of the tournament. Five birdies and a bogey helped him finish second with -8, ahead of Rahm’s -7 (after the 6th hole) and Hovland’s -6 (after the 7th) and Collin Morikawa who also managed to finish his round with four birdies and one bogey.

With José María Olazábal eliminated (two birdies and seven bogeys on the day for a +10 total), Jon Rahm and Sergio García were halfway through their second round when it was suspended. The Barrika native held on for the title fight despite not being comfortable with what he had on the day. He played a full six holes, all of them par, and had one putt to save par on the 7th hole.

Rahm began the lap with a better feeling than Thursday, when he signed an initial double bogey. This time, on the par four of hole 1, a difficult birdie choice was made which he drove with a chip from the edge of the green. He narrowly missed signing the first of six consecutive pairs.

Rahm missed the par five of hole 2, after a second shot into the bunker and a long putt for birdie. It was then that the sky began to threaten the storm. Meanwhile, Rahm continued to try to find the take-off shot, which also did not make it to holes 3, where he missed a putt about four meters for birdie, or 4, a par three where he out to the side of the green needing two putts to close.

Rahm remained at -7 after four holes, behind Koepka’s -12 and Bennett’s -8. His best birdie option came on the par-4 of 5, though he was forced to make a long putt. This one narrowly left him on the left to leave him with honey on his lips. On the par three of the 6th hole, he sent the ball with driver into the drop zone of the green to force himself to two putts to save par. A par that was also attempted on the par four of the 7th hole after coming out of the rough among the trees and a second shot that went into the bunker before the green by millimeters from the left side. Rahm would continue his round with a committed putt for a par of around three meters looking for it to be the necessary incentive to start growing in the second round.

Very committed cut for Sergio García

Txema Olazábal did not pass the cut and it was also difficult for Sergio García to pass it. The 2017 champion is tied for sixty-ninth in suspension time. At +6, he is four strokes away from the provisional top50 entering the weekend and has six holes to go.

The man from Castellón was suffering a lot until the 12th hole, with four bogeys and the winner without a stroke. García suffered with the initial putt and paid for it on holes 3 and 4, with bogeys dooming his return. The difficulty he had in finding a street center to try to amend them didn’t help either.

The Spaniard missed long putts for par on holes 5 and 6 and was punished again on the par four on 7, with a second shot into a bunker and a long drive for a compromised putt that missed. Without good birdie options, as he always leaves long putts for it, Sergio made four consecutive pars before a bad approach after missing the par three tee of 12 that doomed him with the fourth bogey of the day. So, he continues his round on the par five of the 13th hole ready to change his trend to dream of a weekend that seemed far from the beginning.