Tiger Woods goes into the final round of the Masters firmly in contention to win a first major in 11 years, but he might have to battle meteorological conditions as well as his opponents.
Severe weather conditions are expected at Augusta, Georgia, on Sunday afternoon, which has forced the organizers to bring the start of the final round forward by a few hours.
Golfers will now be split in threesomes rather than in pairs, with play beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET from the number 1 and number 10 tees. Broadcast will now begin at 9 a.m. ET, instead of 2 p.m. ET.
Woods will be in the last group of the day, teeing off at 9:20 a.m. alongside Tony Finau and clubhouse leader Francesco Molinari.
It is the first time since the first two rounds in 2005 that the Masters adopts a two-tee start.
"The safety of everyone on our grounds is paramount," said Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. "We also believe the earlier start will give us the best opportunity to complete the Masters on Sunday. This decision should benefit everyone -- the players, our patrons and our fans watching around the world.
"Given the competitiveness and drama of this year's tournament, we look forward to an exciting conclusion tomorrow."
Molinari, the reigning Open champion, began the third round as co-leader alongside Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen but swiftly moved away from the chasing pack.
The Italian shot a 6-under-par 66 and is currently 13-under for the tournament, two shots ahead of Finau and Woods, who shot 8-under and 5-under, respectively on Saturday.
Should he win the Green Jacket for a fifth time on Sunday, Woods would become the first golfer in history since Ben Crenshaw to win a major 11 years after his last.
Crenshaw triumphed at Augusta in 1984 and then had to wait until 1995 to land another major, with the greens of the Augusta National Golf Club again providing the backdrop for his triumph.
"It's been a while since I've been in contention here,'' Woods told ESPN.
"But then again the last two majors counts for something. I've been in the mix with a chance to win major championships in the last two years. And so that helps.''
Behind the trio of Molinari, Woods and Finau, Koekpa remains firmly in contention at 10-under par.
Webb Simpson and Ian Poulter are four shots adrift of the leader, followed by a group including Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele and Justin Harding at 8-under par.
Masters leaderboard
13-under: Francesco Molinari
11-under: Tony Finau, Tiger Woods
10-under: Brooks Koepka,
9-under: Webb Simpson, Ian Poulter
8-under: Dustin Johnson, Justin Harding, Xander Schauffele, Matt Kuchar and Louis Oosthuizen.
Masters fourth-round selected tee times (All times ET)
Tee number 1
7:30 a.m.—Aaron Wise, Marc Leishman, Si Woo Kim
8:03 a.m.—Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Corey Conners
8:25 a.m.—Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm
8:47 a.m.—Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler
8:58 a.m.—Matt Kuchar, Justin Harding, Xander Schauffele
9:09 a.m.—Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson, Ian Poulter
9:20 a.m.—Francesco Molinari, Tony Finau, Tiger Woods
Tee number 10
7:30 a.m.—Kyle Stanley, Viktor Hovand (a), Charley Hoffman
7:52 a.m.—Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Gary Woodland
8:25 a.m.—Patrick Reed, Devon Bling (a), Keith Mitchell
9:20 a.m.—Trevor Immelman, Alex Noren
Where to watch the fourth round
CBS will broadcast the third round on Sunday from 9 a.m. ET, as opposed to the 2 p.m. ET time that was originally scheduled. Live streaming will be available on Masters.com and on the Masters' official app, with both also providing live coverage of the featured groups and of Amen Corner.
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