The Masters: Falling trees nearly crush crowd at Augusta

The Masters almost turned into a tragic disaster after three trees each about a hundred feet tall crashed into the area where spectators were watching the action at Augusta National Golf Club.

Luckily, the spectators were quick on their feet and everyone was able to get out of harm's way. The trees started to fall a bit slowly at the start, as they appeared to pull each other down by the branches before finally making the swift crash to the ground.

The trees were bowled over by strong winds and pictures taken from the aftermath of the incident show their trunks flat on the ground. The roots are shooting up in the air with the soil pulled up along with them, creating small craters on the course. Needless to say, play was immediately suspended as Augusta staff and even some of the fans helped clear away the debris.

The incident happened live in front of cameras as Spanish star Sergio Garcia missed a putt. There were groans from the fans, which suddenly grew louder. Garcia looked momentarily confused as the chaos erupted, and the trees could be seen tipping over while spectators ran to safety.

By this time, cameras had switched to a wider angle and the trees were filmed crashing to the ground. It was quite a miracle that everyone managed to get out of the way in time, as the trees fell exactly where people were standing around to catch a glimpse of the green.

One of the trees ended up lying across the 17th tee, and shocked fans did not hesitate to start helping remove branches in order to get the golfers back in action. However, due to the safety concerns, organisers decided to call it a day and resume the second round on Saturday at 8am (1pm UK time).

Apart from the fallen trees, the day's play had already been interrupted earlier due to the strong winds and the threat of an incoming thunderstorm. That resulted in a 20-minute break, but after the tree incident, 39 players who had not completed the second round were forced to return the next day.

Brooks Koepka completed his round and was sitting at the top of the leaderboard with 12 under before play was suspended. He was three shots ahead of Jon Rahm, with Sam Bennet four shots behind.

Superstar Tiger Woods was among those who had to wait another night to fight back after a dismal start to the tournament. He was sitting in last place to make the cut when play was suspended on Friday. Luckily, he was able to hold on with a score of three over par when play resumed on Saturday morning. This meant that Woods successfully avoided getting cut in 23 successive Masters tournaments since he became a pro golfer.

As if the chaos on Friday was not enough, play was suspended again on Saturday. The second round was successfully completed, but torrential rains started to pour while the third round was in play.

After a full hour of relentless rain, organisers decided to halt play once more.

Woods has not made much progress despite making the cut, and he is still in last place and nine strokes over. He is still a shadow of his former self after enduring numerous injuries including the horrendous car crash that many thought would be career ending. Despite sitting in last place, the fact that he is even playing at the Masters is already a mind-blowing miracle in itself.

Brooks Koepka managed to extend his lead slightly on Saturday, and is now at 13-under and four strokes ahead of Rahm. Sam Bennett is still hot on their heels and is in third place with 6-under.

The conditions were uncomfortable at best on Saturday, with the players fighting off the cold and wet conditions as their caddies held their umbrellas. The organisers tried to allow the competitors to complete the round, but at 3:15 p.m. ET, the call was made to suspend play once more. The rest of the third round will resume on Sunday morning.