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Australian amateur Harrison Crowe has relived the terrifying moment a falling tree sent spectators clambering for cover during the second round of the Masters.
Crowe was playing the nearby 16th hole with countryman Min Woo Lee when the towering Georgia pine crashed across the 17th tee box at Augusta National on Friday.
Crowe’s parents Tony and Shaunaugh were among the spectators who escaped peril amid the dramatic scenes as flash lightning caused havoc and the suspension of play.
“They were on the other side so that was lucky,” Crowe told AAP.
“I was on the 16 green (about 30 metres away). We heard it. We watched the whole thing.
“It just started crackling and then it came down. It was scary – it was.”
Harrison Crowe at the Masters (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Crowe’s coach and caddie John Serhan said it was a miracle no one was killed.
“We watched them come down. It was very scary,” Serhan said.
“(Crowe’s father) Tony was 20 metres from it. I s**t myself. You could feel it down there. This little tornado whipped up.
“It didn’t last long but it caught those trees. You could see them start to sway. They were lucky no one got killed. Very, very lucky.”
Crowe’s father said he watched the tree fall “in slow motion”.
“There was just a loud crack,” he said.
“Everyone knew it was coming down because you could hear it – it was in slow motion. It was hairy and scary.
“The worst part about it was all the security guards after the fact said you need to get off the course because more trees are going to fall down.”
Serhan’s son Joseph said the frightening ordeal started when Crowe’s group was approaching the 16th green.
“We got this huge gust up in our faces of sand and dirt,” he said.
“We thought ‘here we go’. As soon as we got out into the open, it was blowing harder and we could literally hear this crack.
“We all put our hands on our head and heard a bunch of people screaming. There was about 50 people sitting down and it was literally falling where people were sitting in their chairs.
“People were falling out of their chairs on the ground and crawling to get away. From where we were, we thought for sure they were going to get hit. You had zero chance.
“There was a lady that froze completely. The trees fell perfectly between her – there was about a metre gap either side of her.
“There was three or four trees out there that looked like they were going to fall down.”
Meanwhile Australia’s contingent face a gruelling game of catch-up after lightning, rain and more forecast foul weather turned the Masters into a physical and mental endurance test.
Jason Day was the only Australian to complete his second round before play was abandoned, leaving almost half the field needing to return on Saturday to take on a marathon schedule.
American Brooks Koepka was safely in the clubhouse at 12 under par and holding a three-shot buffer over his closest chaser, world No.3 Jon Rahm.
Rahm still has nine holes to play in his second round.
The Spanish star is among 39 players needing to complete day two’s competition before the third round can start.
Day can sleep a little longer than compatriots Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Min Woo Lee and Harrison Crowe, who are among those swept up in the backlog.
But that doesn’t mean he will rest any easier, after the former world No.1 leaked four shots in his last four holes to drop from outright second spot into a share of sixth some seven strokes adrift of Koepka at five under.
“A kick in the gut,” Day said after splashing his third shot in the water on the 15th en route to a double-bogey seven, then three-putting the 16th and 18th holes in a depressing finish.
“It’s disappointing because you’re coming in with some good momentum going into 15, even though I missed a short one on 14.
“It’s disappointing to go from nine (under) back to five (under) in a matter of four holes.
“Who knows what happens over the next few days? I know where Brooks is but you never know how the weather pans out and then you could find something over the next couple of days.
“I’m thoroughly annoyed with myself … I’m trying to get a hold of myself.”
Adam Scott is hanging in there, one shot behind Day in a tie for 10th after negotiating his first 10 holes in even par for the day.
British Open champion Cameron Smith will resume on the ninth hole at two under.
But playing partners Min Woo Lee and amateur Harrison Crowe are fighting to make the projected halfway cut of three over.
Crowe is five over with three holes remaining in his second round, and Lee six over and needing a run of birdies.
© AAP