Masters Latest: Final round will be a race against the rain

Patrons watch from under umbrellas during the second round for the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on the final round Sunday at the Masters (all times local):

8:25 a.m.

The final round of the Masters will be a race against the rain.

A powerful line of thunderstorms has swept across the South over the past few days and the rain has already made it to the outskirts of Atlanta, which is approximately 145 miles to the west of Augusta.

Conditions on Sunday morning at Augusta National weren’t bad, with overcast skies and relatively calm winds.

But the weather is forecast to deteriorate as the day progresses, with wind building and a line of storms approaching by mid-afternoon. The leaders — Francesco Molinari, Tony Finau and Tiger Woods — are scheduled to tee off at 9:20 a.m.

Molinari has a two-shot lead over Finau and Woods at 13-under 203.

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7:45 a.m.

Tiger Woods waking up early Sunday morning to play the final round of the Masters ordinarily would mean he is at the bottom of the leaderboard.

That wasn’t the case this year.

Francesco Molinari takes a two-shot lead over Woods and Tony Finau into a first-ever Sunday morning start — threesomes off the first and 10th tees — with hopes of finishing the Masters ahead of severe storms in the forecast.

Floodlights cast shadows on the practice range as players warmed up in darkness. Woods, trying to end 14 years without a green jacket, said he would be up by 4 a.m. to start stretching a body that has been slowed by four back surgeries.

Woods, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson were among 10 players within five of the lead.

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