AUGUSTA, Ga. — Whoever wins the Masters this afternoon will need to be in pretty good physical shape besides being a terrific golfer.
Thanks to thunderstorms that rolled through Augusta and dropped steady rain for more than four hours Saturday afternoon, the leaders will have to play a lot of holes today. And that won't be easy on the hilly Augusta National layout.
Only 11 of the 47 golfers were able to complete their rounds by the time play was halted at 7:45 p.m. EDT. The two players in the final group, Chad Campbell and Rocco Mediate, were only able to complete four holes and will face 32 holes today. The rest of the field will face somewhere between 18 and 31 holes on a long Sunday, which is expected to be dry.
Campbell, the 31-year-old former UNLV golfer, still holds on to the lead at 6-under-par, one ahead of Mediate and South African Tim Clark at 5-under. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the past two Masters champions, are at 3-under along with Ireland's Padraig Harrington.
Five players, including Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Fred Couples, Retief Goosen and Stephen Ames all stand at 2-under. Utah resident Mike Weir heads a group of six golfers at 1-under par.
That's quite a leaderboard with five former Masters champions — Woods, Mickelson, Singh, Couples and Weir — within five shots of the lead, along with former U.S. Open champions, Els and Goosen.
Because of the extra holes, the younger golfers such as Woods, 30, Clark, 30, and Campbell, would seem to have an advantage. It worked well for Woods last year when he had to play 27 holes on Sunday and came from four behind to win.
Of the main contenders, Couples is 46, Singh and Mediate 43 and Ames 41. But Mediate doesn't think age will be a factor.
"I'll crawl around here if I have to," he said. "I'm not going to stop unless you pull me out of here. It's going to be a long day, a tough day. I'm looking forward to it."
Even the younger guys acknowledge it's going to be difficult.
"It's going to be tougher walking this course," Campbell said. "Eighteen holes is quite a chore, so 32, we've got our work cut out for us."
Rain was expected Saturday as thunderstorms that had caused havoc in Tennessee the day before were headed toward Augusta. The first tee time was 10:40 and 25 golfers were able to tee off before play was suspended at 1:02 p.m. EDT. While steady rain fell and Masters "patrons" were forced to seek shelter, players had to sit around for more than four hours before the tournament resumed at 5:20 p.m.
Eventually eleven golfers were able to finish and Jim Furyk, who started the day in last place, finished with the best score, even-par 216 after a 68. Angel Cabrera and Mark Hensby are tied for second in the clubhouse at 217. Campbell and Mediate were the last to tee off just before 7 and Campbell started to put some space between himself and the rest of the field when he started off with a pair of birdies to go to 8-under par. However, he followed with bogeys at the third and fourth holes to come back to the field.
"Honestly, even with the two bogeys I hit good putts," he said. "Obviously I would have liked to have had today go a little bit smoother with the weather, but that's the way it goes. I'll get a good night's rest and be ready for tomorrow."
Woods was on the 9th green when play was stopped for the day. He had two birdies, at 3 and 8, and said he's not concerned about extra holes today.
"Last year I played 54 on the weekend, so that's nothing new around here," he said. "I know I'm in condition. That's not a problem. It's a matter of execution."
Mickelson started off hot with three straight birdies to move to 5-under, but like Campbell, he gave a couple back with bogeys at 4 and 5.
Clark made the best move in the abbreviated third round, making birdies at 1, 2 and 5 to move within a shot of the lead. Not only that, he has a 4-footer for birdie awaiting him at No. 6 when he starts this morning.
"I couldn't be more pleased with my start," he said. "Tomorrow's a whole different day. (The winner) will probably be the one who's the most patient, somebody who doesn't make a big number."
E-mail: sor@desnews.com