Rory McIlroy's Masters bid in tatters, Brooks Koepka powers clear at Augusta National as weather has its say

ByAlex Livie

Updated 07/04/2023 at 21:49 GMT

He has three of the four major titles to his name, but The Masters has proved elusive for Rory McIlroy. That looks set to be the case once again after a poor first two days at Augusta National. The Northern Irishman arrived in Georgia as the bookmakers' favourite and the selection of many experts, but he failed to find his best form and is set to bow out.

Rory McIlroy’s bid to complete the career grand slam will have to wait another year as his Masters challenge imploded on Friday, a day when Brooks Koepka took charge and wild weather brought an early end to play.

The Northern Irishman arrived at Augusta in confident mood, but he struggled to find his game on Thursday and it did not improve on Friday.

While he drove the ball excellently in the main, his usually impeccable iron play was badly off colour.

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His wedge play has been much improved in the past 18 months, but he could never get his yardages dialled in - and Augusta took no prisoners.

McIlroy signed for a 77 on Friday, to leave him at five-over and almost certain to miss the cut.

Should conditions deteriorate as predicted and he somehow made the cut, he would go into the weekend 17 shots adrift of Brooks Koepka who powered to 12-under.

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Koepka won his latest start in the LIV Golf event in Orlando, and he has always been a force at major championships.

After going close to Masters glory in 2019, when an inspired Tiger Woods denied him, Koepka’s career took a backward step as knee injuries took a toll.

He made the controversial move to join LIV last year, and there were fears it would impact on his sharpness at the majors.

Judging on his first two days at Augusta, he is razor sharp as he backed up his blistering opening round of 65 with a 67.

Koepka went blemish free on Friday, carding an eagle and two birdies. And the worry for the chasing pack is that his putter was pretty cold, as he missed a series of putts from inside 15 feet.

Four-time major winner Koepka has never liked the grind of the regular tour, and far from LIV hurting his career it could prove to be the opposite as it allows him to play a limited schedule and channel his efforts into the majors.

The Masters is never won on a Friday, but Kopeka has put himself in a strong position going into the weekend.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was vying for favouritism with McIlroy at the start of the week, but he too struggled.

The defending champion’s troubles were solely down to his putter, which was ice cold over the first two days and he will go into the weekend at one-under.

Sam Bennett was in the group alongside Scheffler, and the amateur served notice of his quality with a 68 for the second day in a row to get to eight-under.

Play was suspended at 8:03pm UK time due to the threat of lightning, only for the action to resume a short while later.

Course officials look over fallen trees on the 17th tee during the second round of the 2023 Masters

Image credit: Getty Images

The weather shifted dramatically at around 9pm, a large tree was blown over by the high winds, and the players were taken from the course for a second time at 9:22pm.

No injuries were reported and as greenkeepers worked on removing the felled trees, Augusta confirmed play was officially called off for the day.

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