Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka shrugged off the lingering debate over a controversial ruling to set an imposing clubhouse target on day two of the 87th Masters.
Koepka shared the overnight lead with Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland after an opening 65 at Augusta National and was relishing an early start on Friday, with rain and thunderstorms forecast later in the day.
And the former world number one took full advantage of ideal conditions to post a flawless 67 for a halfway total of 12 under par, the joint-third lowest in tournament history alongside LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman.
Rahm and Hovland were through six and seven holes respectively when the horn to suspend play did indeed blow shortly after 8pm UK time, though the suspension proved short-lived as play resumed following a delay of 21 minutes.
However, less than an hour later play was called for the day as footage emerged of a tree falling down close to the 17th tee. ESPN reported that nobody was hurt in the incident, which was later confirmed by officials at Augusta National.
The moment a tree fell on No. 17 at Augusta National. pic.twitter.com/43qilawab4
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) April 7, 2023
Koepka, who won the most recent 54-hole LIV event in Orlando on Sunday, had earlier moved into the outright lead with a birdie on the second and followed a run of five pars with an eagle from 13 feet on the eighth.
Further birdies followed on the 13th and 15th, both par fives, as Koepka cruised into pole position to claim his fifth major title and a first since the 2019 US PGA Championship.
Chasing him is amateur Sam Bennett, who outshone defending champion Scottie Scheffler with another round of 68 to move to eight under, four back and alone in second place after the first half of the field had completed their rounds.
Bennett dropped his first shot of the tournament at the fourth hole but that would prove to be his sole mistake among five birdies, before declaring that he felt he could go ahead and win the Masters this weekend.
Rory McIlroy can no longer do that having missed the cut with a disappointing round of 77 which saw him go out in 40 shots before a late rally was ended with further dropped shots at holes 16 and 18.
No penalty for Koepka and caddie
While Koepka was out on the course, an incident from his first round continued to be debated after TV footage appeared to show his caddie Ricky Elliott saying “five” to playing partner Gary Woodland’s caddie on the 15th.
If that was deemed to have been advice on which club Koepka had just hit into the par five it would be a breach of the rules, but the pair were quickly cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Following the completion of Brooks Koepka’s round, the Committee questioned his caddie and others in the group about a possible incident on No. 15,” James B. Hyler Jr, Chairman of Competition Committees, said in a statement.
“All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined that there was no breach of the rules.”
However, former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, speaking in his role as an analyst for Golf Channel, said: “It’s very obvious… it’s staggering that they’ve denied it because the evidence is there.
“This is common practice on tour. Whether you like it or not, it happens in every professional tournament around the world.
“If the authorities want to stamp this out (they would) really come down on this and make an example of it, and obviously they haven’t. They’ve chosen not to do that and it looked very clearly the evidence was against them.”
