AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brooks Koepka is running away with the tournament.

Somewhere, the Great White Shark is smiling. Somewhere, Jay Monahan is crying.

Greg Norman, the controversial CEO of the controversial LIV Golf tour, suggested last weekend that his 18 defectors congregate behind the 18th green if one of them was poised to win the Masters. That’s the sort of sentiment that convinced Masters officials to not invite Norman to their tournament this year.

Monahan, the embattled commissioner of the PGA Tour, banned all LIV defectors. That delighted the anti-Saudi element in America outraged by the kingdom’s repressive reign and its possible connections to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A Koepka win would be a symbolic gut punch.

» READ MORE: Tiger Woods ties cuts record, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy collapse as weather stalls Masters

The sides are battling in court, and, while the players have been cordial, Norman made sure that the 87th edition of the Masters would mean more than just winning a green jacket. It was them-versus-us from Day 1, and his LIV contingent arrived at Augusta National wearing the proverbial black hats.

So far, thanks to beefy Brooksie, the bad guys are winning the fight at the Masters.

This is the first edition of the tournament since LIV, a Saudi-backed enterprise, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to lure big names to its second-rate circus circuit, and the green jackets have gone to great lengths to ensure it would unfold with typical decorum. Koepka’s behavior has been as exemplary as his play.

When the third round was suspended at 3:15 p.m. Saturday due to rain, Koepka led by four shots. He’s led from the start. Six holes into the third round Saturday, he was at 13-under, ahead of Jon Rahm, the No. 3 ranked golfer in the world, and seven shots past amateur Sam Bennett. Four other players were at 5-under, but, at the moment, it looks like a two-horse race, and the one in front is pulling away in fine form. Koepka had just one bogey in his 42 holes.

He’d led by two strokes after two rounds. Didn’t he want to continue?

“You’ve got rain to deal with, and it’s freezing cold,” he said. “I’m glad we stopped.”

It’s news that Koepka is in Augusta at all. The Masters followed the other three majors and allowed LIV players suspended by their tours to play in the tournament, with Koepka as one of 18 to qualify. Twelve survived the cut, including LIV show pony Phil Mickelson, who shook off two days of depressed preparation and stood at 4-under after nine holes of the third round.

The previous best finish by a current LIV player was Dustin Johnson’s sixth-place tie at last year’s British Open. Cam Smith left for LIV after he won that tournament.

After less than 2 1/2 rounds, the tournament had a little bit of everything: redemption stories, sentimental stories, controversy, history, heroes, and rain, rain, rain.

Oh, and Tiger, too.

Big Cat

Tiger Woods made the cut, but just barely. It was his 23rd made cut in a row, which tied a Masters record … but set him up for two days of misery on a reconstructed leg he shattered in 2021. He was at 9-over through 43 holes, in 54th and last place, and had missed his approach on No. 17. He played in a cold downpour with 38 other golfers who completed their second rounds Saturday morning after bad weather stopped play at 4:22 on Friday.

Tiger was limping badly. It was cold, wet, windy, and, eventually, suspended.

Not even the modern magic of Augusta National’s drainage control systems could handle the steady morning rains that turned into afternoon downpours. Puddles appeared on the greens and fairways, players hit awful shot after awful shot, and that was that. The second round had been suspended due to weather at 4:22 p.m. Friday, its completion began at 8 a.m. Saturday and the last threesomes went off holes Nos. 1 and 10 at 1:06 p.m.

Woods, in last place, went off No. 10 the same time Koepka went off No. 1, but making the cut earned Woods little more than a front-row seat to the resurrection of Koepka’s career — a resurrection that would culminate on, of all days, Easter Sunday.

Big Fish

Koepka battled injuries the past two years, battles that helped push him to defect to LIV with about four dozen others. His departure was not like theirs. Koepka is a four-time major winner, and, if healthy, he was LIV’s best chance at competing against the cream of the PGA Tour.

Koepka won the LIV lead-up event last weekend and looks as dominant as he was from 2017-19 when he won the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship twice each. Koepka hasn’t been out of the lead since his first round ended Thursday.

Before a severe knee injury, Koepka looked like the sort of player Tiger was when he ruled golf from 1998-2005.

Koepka was the latest most likely successor to Tiger atop the golf world, and, as a PGA Tour alpha, his brash nature and intolerance for idiocy invited controversy. It has done so here, too. This time, it was Caddiegate.

Koepka’s bag man, Rickie Elliott, appeared to advise Gary Woodland’s caddie that Koepka used a 5-iron on No. 15 in the first round, and Koepka appeared to flash a “5” at Woodland, either of which would have cost Koepka a two-stroke penalty. Koepka was asked to review the film on Thursday and Friday. The tournament’s Competition Committee determined that Elliott was communicating with a TV spotter, and Koepka was merely taking off his glove.

“The last thing I’m going to do is give [advice] to Gary Woodland, the [2019] U.S. Open champ,” Koepka said after Round 2 on Friday.

Rolling with the punches

Koepka, 32, was in a much better frame of mind after Round 2 this year than last. He said he was still recovering from injuries when he missed the 4-over cut line by two shots, and he took it out on his ride in the parking lot off Magnolia Lane.

“I tried to break the back window with my fist of the car. I tried to put it through the back window, not once but twice,” Koepka said. “First time didn’t go, so figured try it again. I guess Mercedes makes a pretty good back window.”

Koepka atop the leaderboard was an unmitigated coup for LIV, the renegade tour that paid Koepka and other marquee stars like Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith kings’ ransoms to forfeit their futures. They all made the cut here. None has sniffed Koepka. Predictably.

Of course, when LIV signed Koepka in June, in the midst of his battles with injuries and confidence, he was unsure if he’d ever be competitive again. Had he been healthy and competitive on the PGA Tour, would he have had a tougher decision regarding LIV?

“Yeah, probably, if I’m being completely honest. I think it would have been,” he said. “But I’m happy with the decision I made.”

Not as happy as Greg Norman was Sunday morning.