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Thursday’s opening round of the Masters has been delayed by thunderstorms at Augusta National in the United States.<\/b><\/p>\n
The opening tee shots, due to be struck at 08:00 local time (13:00 BST), were pushed back by at least an hour by heavy rain and 40-45mph winds.<\/p>\n
A statement on the Masters website read: “Tee times have been delayed until further notice. The first round will not begin before 09:00.”<\/p>\n
The weather is forecast to be better on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday after the players were told about a potential delay, American Luke List, who had on 08:36 tee time (13:36 BST), said: “Not much we can do about it. It’s kind of just see how much it dumps and how it will change.<\/p>\n
Sergio Garcia, who won the Masters in 2017, said he expected scoring to be significantly affected by the inclement conditions on day one.<\/p>\n
“On a course like this, where you have to be so precise in every single shot that you hit, when you play with that amount of wind, it becomes very, very challenging,” said the Spaniard.<\/p>\n
Rain severely disrupted last year’s tournament, with play stopped on Friday after three pine trees fell close to the 17th tee.<\/p>\n
Several golfers were left with close to two rounds to play on the final day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n