08 April 2023 , 21:17
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LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka said he is ready to finish 30 holes on a marathon final day at the Masters - and strike a huge blow for the Saudi-backed breakaway league.
Play was abandoned on Saturday with the final group on a waterlogged seventh green after a day of wind, rain and cold temperatures. Four-time Major winner Koepka had doubled his overnight lead to four shots on Jon Rahm after completing the first six holes of his third round.
Amateur Sam Bennett is in third place while Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland are in a group tied fourth but eight shots behind Koepka.
The former world No.1 has suffered two years of hip and injury problems - and has now joined LIV Golf where tournaments are played over 54 holes.The world No.118 will have to play over half a LIV event in one day to seal his fifth Major victory.
But Koepka, 32, said: “I'm not too concerned about playing 29 holes or however many holes we've got left. It's part of the deal. I'm pretty sure I'll be up for it considering it is the Masters. So I don't think anybody should have a problem with that.”
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Brooks Koepka is flying the flag for LIV Golf (AP)LIV Golf boss Greg Norman has predicted the LIV players at the Masters - and 14 made the cut - will stage a mass celebration if one wins in Augusta. And Rahm, the PGA Tour’s best hope of stopping a LIV Golf winner, reckoned Koepka will have no problems physically. “I don't think that means much, obviously. When you're in the position we're in, adrenaline kicks in and it doesn't really matter.”
Koepka shot opening rounds of 65 and 67 and played the first six holes of his third round in one-under par despite the dreadful conditions. “Yeah, it's obviously super difficult,” he said. “Ball's not going anywhere. You've got rain to deal with, and it's freezing cold. It doesn't make it easy. You've got to make some pressure putts.
You know it was going to be a difficult day. You've just got to grind through it and try to salvage something.” World No.3 Rahm, who is seeking a second Major after his 2021 US Open triumph, agreed play had to be abandoned on Saturday at 3.15pm local time.
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Jon Rahm is the man chasing Koepka down (Getty Images)
“Obviously when we walked up to the 7th green it was clear to us that that green had been wet for a while,” he said." They had been squeegeeing it for a while. I understand they're trying to push us to play as many holes as possible, but it was very apparent when they tried to get the water out that it just wasn't going to happen in our case.
"You can't really say it was late because I don't blame them for wanting us to play as much as possible. It looks like it's good weather tomorrow. So we're going to have good weather conditions and most likely a soft golf course. So feeling confident, playing good golf and there's a lot of holes to be played. But feeling good, feeling strong, and keep it going.”
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