Masters tee-times put back

The persistent heavy rain which has been falling in Augusta all week has taken its toll on the Masters course, with the start of the opening day’s play being put back by at least half-an-hour.

Almost an inch of rain fell during Monday’s thunderstorms which forced practice rounds to be cancelled and the gates to be closed to the public for the first time since 1983.

Further heavy rain has continued to fall since then, and the weather is not forecast to improve until Friday at the earliest.

A statement on the tournament’s official website, www.masters.org, said: “Due to weather conditions, there will be a delay of at least 30 minutes of all starting times for the first round the 2003 Masters.”

Greenkeeping staff have been out in force spraying a drying agent on the course, but competition committee chairman Will Nicholson said: “The golf course has taken just about as much water as it can take.”

Despite the extremely wet conditions, tournament officials will not sanction the use of ‘preferred lies’, where players can lift and clean their ball on the fairway.