Waiting game with the rain
Associated PressPublished February 21, 2005
LOS ANGELES - The Nissan Open is headed for uncharted waters.
After four days at rainy Riviera Country Club, no one had played more than 37 holes. And when rain suspended play a mere 30 minutes into the third round Sunday afternoon, officials conceded the possibility the next hole anyone plays will be a sudden-death playoff between Adam Scott and Chad Campbell.
That's assuming they can find a hole that is not under water.
"We're going to make every effort to play," PGA Tour tournament director Mark Russell said. "We're going to come back in the morning, try to finish the third round and see how it goes from there."
Where the Nissan Open stood Sunday evening was baffling.
Campbell got the weekend off, which often is golf vernacular for missing the cut. At the rain-delayed Nissan Open, that means he finished his second round Friday and hasn't hit a shot since.
"None (Saturday) and none (Sunday)," Campbell said. "That's zero."
Scott rarely feels a sense of urgency in the second round of any tournament, but this happened to be a Sunday afternoon when he was one shot out of the lead, with clouds gathering on the horizon.
"I did think this may be the last putt of the week here," Scott said. "So I better make it count."
Scott rolled in a 20-foot birdie from the fringe on his final hole for 5-under 66 in a second round that took three days to complete. It put him at 9-under 133, tied with Campbell.
Tiger Woods was two shots behind until he butchered the 18th. From the right rough, he tried to play a fade around the trees, but the ball plugged into the left side of the hill framing the green. He flopped his pitch to 8 feet, then three-putted for double bogey and 70, and was four back.
What happens next depends on the weather.
The forecast was for heavy rain Sunday night and throughout today, and Russell said Riviera is at the point where any rain will flood fairways and bunkers.
Players were to return today at 7:30 a.m. - only 12 of the 75 who made the cut teed off in the third round - and hope the forecast is wrong. The goal is to at least complete 54 holes so it becomes an official tournament. Otherwise, Russell said it could revert to a 36-hole tournament, the winner decided by a playoff.
The last time that happened was the 2000 BellSouth Classic, when the final round was washed out. Phil Mickelson and Gary Nicklaus went to the par-3 16th, where Mickelson birdied to win.
PGA Tour events must be at least 54 holes to be considered official. And if more than half of the field finishes the third round today before more rain arrives, the tournament could carry over into Tuesday. And if it rains Tuesday?
"That would be a decision for the commissioner," Russell said. "We are getting into waters here that I can never remember us being in."
EUROPEAN PGA: Thongchai Jaidee shot 2-under 70 to win the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur a second straight year. Thongchai, a 34-year-old former paratrooper, finished 21 under for his seventh career title, three ahead of Jyoti Randhawa.