Masters 2023 live updates: Second round suspended to Saturday, with Tiger Woods fight the cut, and Jon Rahm trying to catch Brooks Koepka

The second round of the 87th Masters will be remembered for the continued charge of Brooks Koepka, an amateur’s sustained stunning play, and severe weather that felled trees, but somehow avoid injuring any spectators.

Koepka, the LIV Golf player who is resurgent after several years of dealing with injuries, was in the fortunate early wave, and in relatively calm conditions he carded a five-under-par 67 that, combined with his opening 65, made him the clubhouse leader. He was three shots clear of World No. 2 Jon Rahm, who was still on the course through nine holes when play was suspended for the day by severe weather.

While the Masters hopes to continue play at 8 a.m. ET, heavy rain, wind and cold temperatures are forecast for Saturday, and it remains to be seen how much play they’ll be able to get in.

Second in the clubhouse, four behind Koepka, the four-time major winner who is looking for his first win at Augusta, was 23-year-old amateur Sam Bennett. The reigning U.S. Amateur champion was a nice surprise on Thursday when he opened with a 68, but he matched that score again in the second round, truly making him a factor on the weekend. No amateur has ever won the Masters, with three finishing runnerup: Ken Venturi in 1956, Charlie Coe in ’61 and Frank Stranahan in 1947.

(Scroll down for live updates)

Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, also looking for his first green jacket, shot 68 and was six behind Koepka.

Likely to miss the cut was World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, who struggled to a 77 on Friday and was five over. World No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler four-putted the ninth hole and shot 75 to be currently tied for 29th place.

And Tiger Woods, who was even on the day and two over for the tournament through 11 holes, was straddling the cut line in his bid to tie the Masters record for 23 straight cuts made.

Here’s what we mean by the ominous forecast. The Masters weather report as of 5 a.m. on Friday morning.

Anything can happen in the next three days. Thankfully we’re all ready to hang out here and find out.

Masters 2023 live updates

5:45 p.m.: The Masters committee confirmed the falling of the trees on the 17th hole while also stating there were no injuries. It was also announced that play was suspended for the day and the third round is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. EDT.

4:50 p.m.: As the suspension of play extends, reports have confirmed that there were no injuries as a result of a tree collapsing at the 17th hole. Groundskeepers have begun to remove said tree as the rain and wind gusts continue at Augusta.

4:22 p.m.: The horn sounds once again as play has been stopped for a second time within the past two hours. Players begin to move to the clubhouse unlike the previous stop when they stayed within their area of play.

4:06 p.m.: Despite frustration off the tee at the ninth, Rahm sinks back-to-back birdie putts as he moves into sole possession of second place at 9-under, just three back of Brooks Koepka. He is -2 on the day as he heads toward the back nine.

3:52 p.m.: Jon Rahm hits birdie on the eighth hole sliding him into second on the leaderboard, tied with amatuer Sam Bennett. One can imagine the Spaniard favoring hole 8 after the first two rounds with him scoring an eagle on the same hole in round one.

3:42 p.m.: Tiger able to save par on the ninth putting him at +2. He'll likely need to shoot at least par on the back nine today to make the cut. Woods looking to extend his Masters made-cut streak to 23 as he currently has the longest active and second longest in Masters history (22).

3:25 p.m.: After a short pause in play, the golfers are back out on the course at Augusta as the second round at the Masters tournament is back under way.

3:09 p.m.: And the horns sound as golf is suspended for the time being at Augusta National.

3:06 p.m.: Rory McIlroy finishes with a 77 in round two bringing him to +5 through the tournament. A shocking turn for one of the pre-match favorites as he is likely to miss the cut which is projected at +2.

2:50 p.m.: And Sam Bennett will finish his day in the solo second-place position after a challenging par-save drops into the hole. He'll follow up Thursday's 68 with a Friday 68. Not too shabby. Max Homa will then head into the weekend at even after dropping a shot after a missed putt on 18. The last time an amateur held second-place by themselves was in 1958.

2:44 p.m.: And this Friday will see the worst round of Scottie Scheffler's career at Augusta National. Couldn't seem to get anything going today from his putting (which was also tough on Thursday) to his ball-striking. A 3-over 75 for Scheffler has him 11 shots back, at the moment, of leader Brooks Koepka. The broadcast jumps over to Tiger Woods who finds the patrons behind the green on the seventh hole. He doesn't seem pleased with his game so far.

Woods will drop a shot here, first of his day. Should be able to escape with just a bogey.

2:38 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler is having quite the follow-up Masters to his major championship a year ago. He's still at 2-under for the tournament but 2-over for the day and flies one into the patrons on the final hole. Amateur Sam Bennett will follow that up with what he calls the "worst shot" of the day ... right onto the green. After seeing both shots, Max Homa and his caddie have a long conversation about what he should do. It's well thought-out, as Homa joins Bennett on the green.

2:29 p.m.: Sam Bennett will head into the last hole still at 8-under for the day after a near-birdie putt on No. 17. It just needed a little bit more, but he'll take that easy par instead. Playing partner Max Homa is having a topsy-turvy back nine which features just two pars with only one hole remaining. Three birdies and two bogeys have Homa still at 2-over.

Tiger Woods misses a great chance for birdie on the sixth hole. Had a great shot to get him there and couldn't finish it off. That will be one to remember for sure.

2:22 p.m.: That would've been cool. Tiger Woods nearly flies it right into the hole on the sixth hole. He's been even for the day and this is as good a chance that he's had to birdie a hole and climb the leaderboard. Around the same time, Dustin Johnson will end his Friday with a bogey, heading into the weekend at a 1-under 72. Justin Rose will also conclude with a bogey but is at 4-under for the first two days of the major.

2:15 p.m.: Still no birdies on the fifth hole even though Viktor Hovland gets mighty close to one. Nos. 7 and 18 are next in line, but 5 is the one really hurting the pros at this moment.

2:10 p.m.: Tiger Woods' foot slips on the fifth hole, but he still rockets the ball from the trees to the green and will have a challenging but gettable two-putt to stay at even for the day. With a projected cut at 2-under, the five-time major champ will land right around the cutline at this point. Plenty of time left, of course.

2:04 p.m.: Max Homa ruins a very good chance for par at 15, after an eagle here a day ago. That's gotta be a disappointing 6 for Homa missing an easy-ish putt. He'll drop to just one-under for the week.

1:58 p.m.: And we have a terrible Aaron Rodgers-Jets joke on the ESPN broadcast. Terrible in a good way; it got a chuckle out of yours truly. Of course Max Homa is involved in one way or another.

1:55 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler doesn't seem comfortable with a frustrating shot into the crowds. His putting has been an ordeal over the last day-and-a-half, and his ball-striking is dropping a good deal too. He's two-over for the day.

1:49 p.m.: Raindrops starting to fall at Augusta with the weather potentially getting a good deal nastier around 2 p.m. Critical for the golfers that finished their rounds early on, and it'll be compelling to see how the afternoon pros deal with what could be brutal conditions.

1:45 p.m.: Haven't mentioned Dustin Johnson in a bit, but the LIV golfer is staying afloat. He's even for the tournament and will have a great look for birdie on No. 16. Also, while we're talking about nice shots ... it's SAM BENNETT again. The Texas A&M wunderkind birdied No. 14 and jumped up to a solo second-place spot. Remarkable stuff. The announcers, rightfully, can't stop talking about it.

1:40 p.m.: A little more on Rory McIlroy. Coming into the Masters as one of the favorites and rounding into form, Friday's play has certainly been a letdown for the Northern Irishman. It's one of the worst scores of the day along with Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal and Vijay Singh, and he's beating only 13 players at Augusta National. Three of those 13 are amateurs.

1:36 p.m.: A potpourri of Masters shots: Jon Rahm pars No. 1 (good for him), Justin Rose's shot stays up on No. 15 away from the water and Rory McIlroy continues his lackluster play at five-over for the day.

1:28 p.m.: There's a lot of Sam Bennett talk, and rightfully so. Bennett jumps up to the T-2 spot after a birdie on the par-5 13. It's getting real right now, as the amateur has a solid chance to be in the final group tomorrow with Brooks Koepka, which is quite something. Didn't bet on that one...

1:25 p.m.: Woods plays the first hole even, and puts himself in a decent play on No. 2, right off the green, with a chance for birdie. Unfortunately, he leaves it a bit short, and he'll have to try to settle for par.

1:15 p.m.: Jon Rahm heads to the first tee. Will be interesting to see how he starts on No. 1 after a double-bogey to start his round off yesterday. He ended up fine going nine-under for the rest of the day, but the Spaniard definitely has a chance to jump to the top of the leaderboard with a strong Friday performance.

1:05 p.m.: Sam Bennett continues his stellar play with a hell of a shot to start off No. 12 to attain yet another birdie chance. He has only one bogey thus far the entire tournament. If he makes this putt he'd jump into a tie for second-place, which is quite a showing from the U.S. Open Amateur champ. The broadcast quickly jumps to Viktor Hovland who nails a near 50-foot putt to save par from all the way downtown. He's donning a less flamboyant brown polo today, but his game still looks as bold as ever. Not a single bogey yet for Hovland.

12:59 p.m.: Brooks Koepka is done and has set the bar high. He followed an opening 65 with a five-under 67 to sit at 12 under par, three ahead of Jason Day. And he's in the clubhouse for the rest of the day while the afternoon wave has to deal with potential bad weather. In two days, Koepka has recorded 11 birdies an eagle and a bogey.

12:54 p.m.: "Fore please, Tiger Woods now driving." The five-time Masters champ is off, hitting it down the left side off the first tee. He's going to need a decent round to keep his cuts streak here alive.

12:51 p.m.: It seems quiet, but there's oddly a lot going on right now. Brooks Koepka is walking up the 18th fairway leading the tournament at 12 under par, three shots ahead of Jason Day. Tiger Woods is on the first tee, where he's going off in just a few minutes. He's right on the cut line at two over par, meaning he'll need to shoot something around even-par to make the weekend. Weather, of course, is likely to have something to say about it all. Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson is three-under overall and tied for 15th place with only two holes remaining. He will easily make the cut.

12:43 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler just four-putted the par-4 ninth, playing alongside the amateur Sam Bennett, who made birdie. Scheffler's approach ended 30 feet from the pin. He putted it four feet by, missed that and putted it five feet by. Missed that, then tapped in for double-bogey 6. He's two over on the day and tied for 19th place at two under, 10 shots off the lead.

12:41 p.m.: Jason Day has now made birdie on three of his last five holes to get to four under on the day and nine-under overall. He's only three shots behind Brooks Koepka. Day birdies Nos. 9, 11 and 13 and obviously still faces a good birdie opportunity at the par-5 15th hole, which Koepka has already played. With bad weather expected this afternoon these guys are loving it.

12:38 p.m.: Amateur Sam Bennett continues to impress. After making his first bogey of the week on his 22nd hole, he's now rattled off birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to sit in fifth place at six under par. His approach on the par-4 ninth hole ended three feet.

12:34 p.m.: Larry Mize, the 1987 Masters champion, begins the second round, his last as a competitor at the Masters. Watch this terrific video from the tournament below. "This is a story about a Georgia boy, who loved the Masters."

12:22 p.m.: Koepka has the lowest round going on the golf course at five under, but K.H. Lee is at four under today after an opening 74 on Thursday. After 14 holes, Lee has six birdies and two bogeys. He's tied for 18th place.

12:16 p.m.: Brooks Koepka left and eagle putt inches short on the par-5 15th hole. It was an easy birdie and he's played the four par 5s today in five under. He's five under on the day, 12-under overall and leading Jason Day by four shots.

12:11 p.m.: Jason Day is Brooks Koepka's closest competitor, having just chipped in for birdie on the difficult par-4 11th hole to get to eight-under overall. He's only three shots behind.

11:58 a.m.: Weather still expected to come in mid-afternoon. Here are the afternoon tee times among the leaders: Viktor Hovland (-7) 12:54 p.m., Jon Rahm (-7) 1:18 p.m., Cameron Young (-5) 1:18 p.m., Shane Lowry (-4) 12:18 p.m., Xander Schauffele (-4) 12:54 p.m., Adam Scott (-4) 1:06 p.m.

11:56 a.m.: The career Grand Slam will have to wait another year. Rory McIlroy just three-putted the sixth to move to 3 over on the day and 3-over total. He's now 14 shots behind Brooks Koepka before noon on Friday.

11:46 a.m.: Brooks Koepka just made birdie on the par-5 13th to get to four under on the day and 11 under overall. He's four under on the three pars 5s that he's played today and, obviously, even par on everything else. He leads by four shots.

11:42 a.m.: Top-five update: Koepka (-10), Day, Hovland and Rahm (-7), Morikawa, Spieth, and Young (-5). Seven big names all in contention. Would not be a surprise to see any of them win.

11:40 a.m.: Phil Mickelson update. Lefty is playing a normal round of golf, which is not normal for him around Augusta National. An opening 71 was nuts, but so far, after 11 holes he's even par with two birdies and a double bogey. He's at one-under total, and looking to play the weekend if he can get through these next few holes relatively unscathed. IF.

11:34 a.m.: Defending Masters champ Scottie Scheffler is in a bit of a lull here after six holes of his second round. He opened with a bogey and then made five consecutive pars, having to make a par save from outside six feet on the sixth hole. Good news is that he's tied for 13th early in this tournament, but he's at three under and seven shots off the lead.

11:20 a.m.: Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth is right in the thick of it after birdies on Nos. 2 and 3, the same two that Rory McIlroy bogeyed. He got up and down from just in front of the green on the second, then made birdie from 15 feet on the third. He's at five under and only five shots behind Brooks Koepka.

11:15 a.m.: Before lunch on Friday, Rory McIlroy stands 12 shots off the lead. TWELVE. He opened with 72 and how has made two bogeys in his first three holes to start Round 2. On the par-5 second hole he hit his third shot over the back of the green and the following chip did not make it onto the green either. He didn't get up and in and made bogey. Then on the third hole he was short of the green, chipped it up and over the back, chipped it to six feet and missed it. Brutal.

11:04 a.m.: Well, the streak finally ended—amateur Sam Bennett made a bogey. After shooting a bogey-free 68 on Thursday he opened Friday with a birdie on the first, then rattled off two more pars. On the par-3 fourth hole his tee shot was long and left, he chipped it to 12 feet and miss the par put. Still, he's four-under overall and tied for seventh place. Not. Too. Shabby.

10:55 a.m.: Koepka burns the edge on the 10th hole with a makeable birdie look ... after missing a makeable birdie on the ninth as well. Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland, the first-round co-leaders with Brooks who are still waiting to tee off, actually have to feel lucky they're only going to be starting three back.

10:35 a.m.: Forget the top of the leaderboard for a minute. Let's looks down a little to about 50th place or so, and the question of who might be on the bubble to make or miss the cut. Datagolf.com right now says there's a 41 percent chance it comes in at one-over 145 and a 37.2 percent chance it goes to two-over 146. Now ... that can change radically if the weather does come in in the afternoon, but it's important to note when you consider Tiger Woods will start his second round at two over. He's made the cut in 22 straight Masters appearance and a 23rd would tie him for the all-time record with Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples.

For more on how they determine the 36-hole cut at the Masters, click here.

10:22 a.m.: OK ... Brooks Koepka is done spinning his wheels. On the par-5 eighth, he belts a driver, gets on the green in two and rolls in a 13-footer for his second career eagle on the hole. He jumps to 10 under, three-shots in the lead.

And a little context for what Brooks is doing so far:

10:15 a.m.: A birdie on the first home by Sam Bennett now jumps him to five under for the tournament and three off the lead. He started his first round yesterday birdie-eagle as well. Just a reminder: The last time an amateur finished in the top 15 was Ryan Moore back in 2005 (T-13) with the last top 10 coming in 1962.

If you didn't hear about Bennett's story of losing his father as he was starting college at Texas A&M, have a peek at this video.

10:12 a.m.: Brooks Koepka has been making some nice pars on the last few holes, but those behind him are starting to catch up. Jason Day stands at seven under, one shot back, after a birdie-par stretch on the third and fourth holes.

10:03 a.m.: A sneaky good group to follow on Friday just teed off. Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, quietly shot a four-under 68 on Thursday. Not a bad way to try to win back the green jacket. But he was matched in the same group by U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett, who did something no amateur had done in 30 years at the Masters (as our Joel Beall documented) by posting a bogey-free round. Can either of these two keep it going on Friday?

9:51 a.m.: Rory McIlroy is on the practice range ahead of his 10:12 a.m. tee time. Raise your hand if you thought McIlroy would shoot better than a even-par 72 on Thursday? (Come on, put them up!) We know McIlroy's slow starts are as much a part of his Augusta legacy as the way he blew up on the back nine in 2011. But given his form coming into the week, and the fact that he just feels like somebody finally prepared to rid his Masters demons, the start was just ... well ... surprising.

9:40 a.m.: OK ... now we're starting to see a little more movement from players other than Koepka on the leaderboard. Jason Day makes a birdie on the second hole to get to six under par. His opening-round 67 matched his best first-round score in his 11 previous Masters appearances.

9:25 a.m.: Just sticking this here for future reference today:

9:14 a.m.: We'd be remiss to not acknowledge that there are others playing at Augusta this morning. Including Gary Woodland, who is paired with Brooks and is one under for the day and five under for the tournament. And if you're at Augusta today, you won't be able to miss him with his outfit today:

9:07: a.m: The strategy on short par-4 third hole was debated a bit on Twitter on Thursday, with Colt Knost's commentary on Masters.com scruitinized—and Knost actually clapping back while doing the broadcast!

Koepka chose to use driver off the tee, but then gave himself a tricky wedge that he flew the green with. His chip ran seven feet by the hole, but Koepka calmly poured in the par putt to stay at eight under.

8:52 a.m.: Koepka birdies the second hole to take the outright lead at eight under. And right now Augusta National is playing the easiest it might play all week—no wind and cool conditions so the course isn't too firm. Koepka is liable to go run and hide here.

8:41 a.m.: More required reading about Brooks Koepka: our Shane Ryan put his opening-round 65 in perspective after watching Koepka's surprising reveals in Netflix "Full Swing" episode that he was the main character of.

And then there was this story that Koepka shared on Thursday and our Stephen Hennessey detailed ... maybe too closely.

8:32 a.m.: Brooks Koepka is off and running, with a fairway, a slightly missed green, two-putt par to start his second round. More importantly, he looks like the Brooks Koepka of odd, with that 1,000 yard stare that hints you don't really want to mess with him.

8:11 a.m.: As we wait for Brooks Koepka to start his second round, it's worth looking bad at a bit of a controversy he was involved in on Thursday. It happened on the par-5 15th hole, after Koepka hit his second shot safely on the green. Camera caught Koepka's caddie, Ricky Elliott, mouthing the word "five" as if to indicate "5-iron" was the club Koepka used, and Elliott seemed to be looking in the direction of Gary Woodland's caddie when saying it. Giving advice is a no-no in the Rules of Golf, so tournament officials question Koepka and Woodland after the round. When they determined that no advice was actually given at the time, the committee cleared Koepka of any wrong doing and his seven-under 65 stood.

Our Luke Kerr-Dineen has a very good break down of the situation, along with another rules flap from the day involving Collin Morikawa, right here.

Here's what Brooks had to say about it: "We looked at it when we got back in. [Gary Woodland] and [Gary Woodland's caddie] had no idea what we were hitting; they didn't even know—I know that fact because [Woodland] asked me what we hit walking off, when we were walking down."

The incident was still buzzworthy after the round with Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley both not buying the outcome after seeing the video of Elliott.

7:45 a.m.: For a sense of place as we get ready for the round, here is the leader board entering the day:

Intriguing of course is that Brooks Koepka jumps out pretty quickly this morning with an 8:18 a.m. time. Gives him the best shot among the leaders to play with the best weather.

7:32 a.m.: And the second round is underway with Jose Maria Olazabal and Cameron Champ off on the first tee. Yep you heard it right. While the original schedule called for Friday's play to begin at 8 a.m., Masters officials decided given the forecast to move all tee times ahead a half hour to try to get in as much play before the bad stuff arrives.