Brooks Koepka leads rain-impacted Masters Tournament

April 7 (UPI) -- Brooks Koepka fired a second-round 67 to take a 3-stroke lead on the field at the 2023 Masters, which was suspended twice Friday afternoon because of rain in Augusta, Ga. The round will resume Saturday morning.

The horns for the first stoppage sounded at about 3 p.m. EDT at Augusta National Golf Club. Forty players in the 86-player field finished the round at the time of that suspension, which lasted about 20 minutes.

The horns sounded for a second suspension less than hour later, after strong winds blew over two giant pine trees, which fell onto the course.

The Masters announced that second-round play will resume at 8 a.m. EDT Saturday.

"I got incredibly lucky with my tee time this week, that's for sure," Koepka told ESPN. "Moving the tee times up 30 minutes helped, as well It was starting to sprinkle a little bit. Super lucky, but sometimes you need a little luck."

Koepka, Rahm and Viktor Hovland carded matching 7-under 65s in Thursday's first round and were tied for the lead Friday morning.

Koepka started his bogey-free second round with a par on No. 1. He then birdied No. 2. Koepka, who made par on six of his first nine holes, made an eagle on No. 8 for a 3-under 29 at the turn. Koepka made par on seven of his final nine holes. He birdied Nos. 13 and 15 to round out his 67.

He is now 12-under for the tournament, three strokes better than second-place Rahm. Rahm was 2-under through nine holes in the second round and is 9-under for the tournament.

Sam Bennett, the reigning U.S. amateur champion, sits in third place. Bennett matched Koepka's second-round 68. He carded the same score in the first round and is 8-under overall.

Bennett carded five birdies and one bogey in the second round.

Rahm was even through six holes on Friday before he was forced to walk off the course for the first stoppage. He then made par on No. 7 and birdied Nos. 8 and 9, but was forced to stop again because of rain.

Rahm made par on his first seven holes of the second round.

Hovland was 1-over through the first 10 holes of his second round. He is tied with Colin Morikawa for fourth place at 6-under for the tournament. Morikawa fired matching 3-under 69s through his first 36 holes.

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, struggled Friday at Augusta. He shot a 3-over 75 and is tied for 29th. Scheffler was 4-under through his first 18 holes.

Tiger Woods was even through 11 holes of the second round. He is 2-over for the tournament and tied for 50th. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy carded a 5-over 77 in the second round and is 5-over for the tournament. He is tied for 61st.

The players with the Top-50 scores and ties will advance to the third round.

More rain is expected Saturday and Sunday in Augusta. Third round coverage is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday on CBS.