Masters tragedy narrowly averted as 3 trees fall in spectator area; more bad weather to come
Nobody got hurt: "Miracle," says one witness. Play resumes at 8 a.m. on a rainy Saturday.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — If a tree falls in the woods, does it stop a round?
It does if it almost kills a few dozen Masters patrons.
Three towering pines came crashing down next to the 17th tee at about 4:15 p.m. Friday as the second round of the 87th Masters was drawing to a windy close. Video captured fans scrambling as the timber toppled. Pine cones rained down. The cracking sound warned potential victims under the boughs that they were breaking.
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The trees crushed several of the ubiquitous green chairs that surround every tee box and green at Augusta National. They did not, however, crush any patrons. The tournament and witnesses both reported no injuries at all.
“Miracle,” said one witness.
Play was then temporarily suspended at 4:22 p.m. At 5:45, play was suspended until 8 a.m. Saturday.
Math, as much as fate, was on the fans’ side. Play had been suspended for 21 minutes earlier Friday, at 3:07 p.m. That resulted in a mass exodus of fans, which thinned the number of fans still on the grounds when the trees fell.
The early-morning restart was optimistic. Forecasts for 8 a.m. Saturday called for steady rain and 50-degree temperatures until midnight.
Thirty-nine players did not finish their second round, including five-time winner Tiger Woods, who stood tied for 50th at 2-over with seven holes left to play. Woods has made the cut as a professional 22 times in a row; once more and he will tie the Masters record held by Fred Couples and Gary Player.
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While the weather might cause the first Monday finish since 1983 — an impossibility, according to golf.com, thanks to the course’s extensive rain-sucking system — debris will not delay the tournament for a minute. Within minutes of the felling, the famously efficient Augusta National grounds crew was buzzing limbs off trunks. By nightfall, the spots where the giants once stood were covered with new sod, ready for Saturday’s throngs.
In fact, considering the site’s magical powers of agronomy and forestry, the green jackets might have brand-new trees growing in those spots by daybreak.