Sunday’s Master Plan: Finish the third round, play the fourth, crown a winner. Maybe dry out too.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sometime on Sunday evening – weather permitting, because everything seems to be this way during this Masters tournament – Brooks Koepka or Jon Rahm or any of the 52 other players will be able to wear the jacket they actually want on this trip to Augusta national golf club.

It’s green.

Saturday’s weather threw the tournament into carefully managed havoc, with the third round scheduled to resume at 8:30 AM Eastern time on Sunday. Koepka, Rahm and Sam Bennett would attempt to complete the seventh hole, which they played at 3pm on Saturday when conditions became too bad to continue. If all goes according to Augusta National’s plan, the final round will wrap up on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, with the 54 players paired up and playing from the first and 10th tees.

Trying to avoid its first Monday Masters finish since 1983, Augusta National used a similar approach in the fourth round of 2019, when weather led to groups of three starting from two tees.

Of course, start times are just one part of Augusta’s weather war plan. The club also has a highly sophisticated, more-or-less secret weapon: a massive, underground system known as SubAir that draws moisture away from the golf course’s greens and fairways. The system has many functions, including pumping fresh air to aid in the root structure of the grass. But when there is heavy rainfall, rainwater can be funneled away from the central sections of the course to areas of the terrain that are likely to be out of play.

Players love the SubAir system because it can keep the speed of a course’s fiendish greens consistent despite a downpour, and make fairways drier, leading to harder landing surfaces and longer drives off the tee. The system emits a low hum, a sound that top players have come to appreciate.

“They just turn it on,” Viktor Hovland marveled last year, “and overnight it’s a completely different golf course.”

Fred Couples – yes, 63-year-old Fred Couples – made it.

Let’s face it: it’s almost certain that Fred Couples won’t win the Masters this year. He could even finish last, or come close to it. But Fred Couples, the 1992 champion, is still in the field, which is more than some of his (much) younger counterparts can say.

At 63, he is the oldest player ever to make the Masters cut.

“There’s really no secret,” Couples said. “Everyone loves this place. That doesn’t mean you’re going to play well. If I hit him really hard, I’m a good iron player.

Couples, who has lifetime playing privileges at the Masters thanks to his win in 1992, last played the third and fourth rounds in 2018, when he tied for 38th place. His last top-10 finish came in 2010 when he finished sixth.

“I’m excited to make the cut,” he said. “That’s why I come here. The last four years have been really mediocre golf – maybe one year I was close to making the cut – but that’s my goal, and I succeeded. It’s not like, ‘Ha, ha, ha. Now I can mess around and play 36 holes for fun.” I’m going to try to compete. Play a good combination with some younger guys and see how they play.”

Indeed, he knows that he will only compete so many times. He’s fine with that.

“I can’t compete with Viktor Hovland or Jon Rahm or anybody, but I can compete with myself, and that’s really why I’m here,” he said.

A few standout scores so far in the interrupted third round.

There’s still plenty of golf to play in the third round, but the round hasn’t produced as much movement as the players want: only 11 improved their scores. Three – Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick and Sungjae Im – took three strikes. Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, improved by two, and Koepka improved his score by one.

Phil Mickelson remains at four under par for the tournament after bogeying two of the last three holes before play was halted on Saturday. Justin Rose started the round at four under, got to six under and was back at four under when everyone went in.

Dustin Johnson, who won the 2020 tournament with the lowest score in league history, is six left for the round, placing him tied for 51st with five left.