Sawt Falasteen - Rahm and Koepka get third round Masters battle under way

Koepka began the round with a two-stroke advantage over Rahm and both made birdies on the par-5 second hole in wet and windy conditions.

Koepka was in front on 13-under with Rahm at 11-under and no rival lower than 6-under in the early going.

Rahm, among 39 players who had to complete the storm-hit second round on Saturday morning, had been within a shot of Koepka before bogeying the final hole in round two.

Five-time Masters winner Tiger Woods managed to battle through the testing conditions to make the cut at three-over par 147 after shooting a one-over 73, but Rory McIlroy was among the big names to miss out on the final two rounds.

The second round completed and the cut made, the third round got under way at 11:30 a.m. with threesomes off split tees in a bid to complete the round before sunset.

Rahm had an eventful session back on course, making birdies on the par-3 12th and par-5 15th before, in driving rain, he bogeyed by three-putting the par-3 16th.

The Spaniard quickly made amends on the par-4 17th, where he rolled in a six-foot putt from the fringe for birdie.

Three-putting the final hole, however, left Rahm on 10-under 134 overall after rounds of 65 and 69 as he targets a second major win to follow his 2021 US Open triumph.

"I would have taken even par in the last four holes either way, and going through this afternoon, hopefully we play and I go with a lot of confidence," Rahm said.

Conditions could be challenging on the rain-soaked course.

"We don't know what kind of conditions we're going to have. The weather's supposed to get worse," said Rahm.

"The greens have somehow maintained somewhat firm... but we don't know what's going to happen. Just a couple of greens that already had some water on them, and we'll see but obviously if I play a little bit longer, might not be able to be as aggressive in some spots."

Friday's play had been cut short after stormy weather descended on Augusta National, with three of the course's trademark tall pine trees blowing over.

Organizers said no spectators were injured by the falling trees and while it was cool with wind and rain on Saturday, there was no sign of thunder or lightning that would halt play.

Four-time major winner Koepka, who plays on the breakaway LIV Golf series, is the man to catch after an outstanding opening two rounds.

At 118th in the world, Koepka would be the lowest-ranked player to win the Masters since the rankings system was introduced in 1986.

The current holder of that distinction is Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who was ranked 69th when he won the green jacket in 2009.

- Tiger shares cut mark -

Woods, looking glum as he limped through the rain trying to avoid missing the cut for the first time as a professional, needed some help to get over the cut line.

The 15-time major winner looked to have blown his chance when he made bogey on each of the last two holes to fall back to three-over.

But his friend Justin Thomas, last year's PGA Championship winner, then bogeyed the final two holes himself to move the cut line to three-over, saving Woods and ensuring he made the cut for a 23rd consecutive effort.

That matched the Masters record also shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples.

McIlroy shot a five over-par 77 with seven bogeys on Friday, leaving him 17 strokes behind pace-setter Koepka and condemned to his second missed Masters cut in three years.

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST