Koepka and Rahm set for Masters showdown as Woods withdraws

Augusta April 9 (US): Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm were poised for their Masters Green Jacket showdown Sunday in a marathon day of high drama at Augusta National that could be a watershed moment in LIV Golf and PGA Tour feud.

Even before the first ball was hit, there was a surprise when Tiger Woods announced he was withdrawing from the tournament with a foot injury, his surgically repaired leg mutilated in a near-fatal car crash in 2021, and unable to contend with difficult weather. She called for course planning, Reuters reported.

After two days of interrupted play due to high winds that knocked down trees and torrential rain, the 53-player field returned to the water-covered course to complete a third round with standard holder LIV Golf Koepka four goals ahead of Spaniard Ram at the top of the leaderboard. .

Although there is plenty of golf to play, the pair have cracked a package that will need to produce something special to challenge and hope for stumbling runners with amateur Sam Bennett capitulating at third, seven shots back.

Critics of LIV Golf have called the Saudi-funded mega-financial project uncompetitive and little more than a sporting venture by a country eager to burnish its human rights record.

A Quebec victory will not end human rights issues but it will give the rebel circle some of the credibility and legitimacy it craves.

If Koepka or another LIV player left in the green jacket, it would be a major marketing coup for the Rebel Circle which also has British Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia among its members.

The final day will begin in Augusta without golf’s biggest name after Woods pulled out 75 minutes before play resumed in the third round at 8:30am (1230GMT).

Woods, the last of the 54 players to make the cut, was limping into the 17th fairway on a six-over-par par through seven holes when play was canceled on Saturday due to inclement weather.

The 47-year-old American has won the Masters five times, most recently in 2019, but has been struggling since his car accident.

“Disappointed to have to withdraw this morning due to an exacerbation of my plantar fasciitis,” Woods said on Twitter.

“Thank you to the fans and the Masters game who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!”

Plantar fasciitis is an enlargement of the tissue that causes pain in the heel.

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