Masters 2023: Jon Rahm narrows gap on leader Brooks Koepka, Tiger Woods makes cut

World number three Jon Rahm reduced Brooks Koepka's lead at the Masters to two shots as Tiger Woods battled to make the cut when the delayed second round was completed on Saturday.

Rahm, who resumed on nine under on the 10th hole, hit three birdies in the pouring rain but finished on 10 under.

Koepka finished his round before storms ended play on Friday and is 12 under.

Five-time winner Woods has never missed the Masters cut as a professional and finished three over, on the cut mark.

Spain's Rahm and American Woods - who equals Gary Player and Fred Couples' record of 23 consecutive cuts made - were among 39 men who had to finish their second rounds early on Saturday.

The third round is scheduled to start at 16:30 BST on Saturday. However, the weather forecast is grim, with heavy rain all day and standing water on some greens, so the possibility of a first Monday finish since 1983 remains real.

Rahm, whose only major triumph came at the 2021 US Open, said he was "extremely" pleased to score even lower in the challenging conditions.

"I did a good job to maintain the score I had. The key in the rain was putting tee shots on the fairway and getting some looks at birdie. It was not easy out there," he told Sky Sports.

Rory McIlroy's dreams of landing an elusive Masters title are over for another year, with the 33-year-old Northern Irishman's exit at the halfway stage confirmed.

World number two McIlroy always looked likely to miss the cut after finishing five over on Friday - a stormy day which also saw fans avoid injury from falling trees in the wet and windy weather.

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Rahm was one of the pre-tournament favourites alongside McIlroy and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who is one under after 36 holes.

At the end of the first round Rahm shared the lead with Koepka - one of 18 golfers from the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Tour competing at Augusta - and Norway's Viktor Hovland on seven under.

Hovland, 25, also had to resume his second round on Saturday but could not claw back the shot he dropped on Friday as he carded 73 to finish six under.

Woods was perilously close to missing the cut, having only done that once, as a 20-year-old amateur in 1996, after closing his round with back-to-back bogeys.

While the 15-time major champion survived, his great friend Justin Thomas will not play the rest of the weekend after three bogeys in his final four holes saw him finish four over.

The difficult conditions meant those players who finished on Friday - like Koepka - had a huge advantage.

American amateur Sam Bennett was also safely back in the clubhouse on eight under, leaving him as the nearest challenger to Koepka and Rahm on a remarkable Masters debut.