The second round of the Masters on Friday was briefly interrupted by a very scary incident that saw a large tree nearly hit spectators.
Cameras caught the tree falling at the 17th hole at Augusta National, and it landed in the gallery. Numerous spectators were nearby as the tree came down.
well THIS was terrifying pic.twitter.com/qfIm2w4zKW
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 7, 2023
Photos showed the size of the tree and how it essentially came down right on top of spectators, as chairs were still strewn about the area.
A tree fell over at the Masters
Hope everyone is okay pic.twitter.com/VtnntWqD44
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 7, 2023
High winds and storms were the apparent cause of the accident, and play was suspended due to weather shortly afterward. ESPN reported that there were no injuries as a result of the incident.
"It sounded like a grandstand blew over, super loud," Sergio Garcia said, per Golfweek's Fletcher Page. "Two trees fell down from the roots and took another one on the way down. People scattered around them but there was one woman that the trees fell around her and somehow she didn’t get hurt. Thank God."
The Masters released a statement on the matter, revealing that three trees in total were blown down:
#themasters pic.twitter.com/QI16LEw3hQ
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2023
Conditions at Augusta can certainly become hazardous for players, but this goes beyond hazardous. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but that does not make the incident any less frightening.
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