Storms force Masters suspension
For the eighth time in the last nine years play in the Masters had to be suspended because of bad weather at Augusta.
The interruption came just after 1pm and just over 90 minutes before overnight leader Chad Campbell had been due to tee off again.
Almost two and a half hours play had been possible, most of it in rain and all of it with dark clouds overhead.
Thunderstorms had been predicted, though, and with no risks being taken for players or spectators, the sirens sounded in good time for everybody to seek shelter.
Spanish duo Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal made some good progress before the stoppage.
Jimenez, two over par overnight, birdied the second and third holes and was still level par after six. He had moved up from 30th to 17th.
Twice champion Olazabal just had time to turn in 34 and so at one over had climbed from 39th to 24th.
It was not such a good session for Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia or Thomas Bjorn, though.
Donald, resuming on two over, hooked wide of the green at the difficult short fourth – he needed a fairway wood – and followed a bogey there with another on the seventh, another of the holes controversially lengthened since last year’s tournament.
Garcia, who had fallen back from two under early in the second round to two over overnight, bogeyed the first and fifth, while Bjorn, who survived right on the limit of four over, birdied the long second, but then bogeyed the fourth and fifth and double-bogeyed the seventh.
Out in 39 and seven over as a result, he had just parred the 10th when the action was halted.
Defending champion Tiger Woods was less than 30 minutes from teeing off again on one under – joint 10th and only five behind Campbell, who led by three from fellow Americans Fred Couples and Rocco Mediate and also world number two Vijay Singh.
Woods had to play 28 holes on the final day to win his fourth title last year. He resumed on Sunday on the 10th hole of his third round and ended up beating Chris DiMarco in a play-off.
The forecast for Sunday this time was for the rain to have cleared out of the area and play to be uninterrupted.
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