The Masters: First round suspended for almost three hours due to bad weather at Augusta

The opening round of the 84th Masters was disrupted by adverse weather at Augusta National, with play suspended for almost three hours.

Overnight rain continued into the morning and forced officials to delay the opening tee times by 10 minutes, but conditions were deemed good enough for the tournament to get under way - albeit seven months later than scheduled.

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, with a combined nine victories, arrived on the first tee still surrounded by darkness to hit the traditional, ceremonial opening tee shots before clearing the way for the first groups of the tournament proper.

Lucas Glover, CT Pan and Corey Conners all began with pars at the first, while 1988 champion Sandy Lyle hit the first drive down the 10th with a two-tee start in operation due to the lack of available daylight in the autumn compared to the tournament's usual spring slot.

But the rain became heavier in the early stages, and less than half-an-hour of play was possible before the klaxons sounded to call the players back to the safety of the clubhouse.

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With the added threat of thunderstorms in the Augusta area, play remained suspended for close to three hours, with play resuming at 10:22am (3:22pm GMT).

The lengthy delay meant that the first round was not completed on Thursday, with half the field still on the course when darkness ended play for the day, but the weather forecast for the rest of the tournament looks significantly better, with mostly dry conditions expected from Friday onwards.

The official Masters weather report issued at 7am read: "Cloudy skies will linger for much of the overnight into Friday morning before clearing. Cooler and less humid conditions can be expected Friday and Saturday with mostly sunny skies. On Sunday, partly cloudy skies can be expected before a dry cold front moves through the area after sunset."