Australia’s Adam Scott completed a second-round 66 on Sunday to join American Chad Campbell atop the leaderboard at the PGA Tour’s rain-ravaged Los Angeles stop, and could only hope the weather gave him a chance to mount a further challenge.
Scott finally made it into the clubhouse at nine-under 133, joining Campbell — who hasn’t struck a ball since Friday, when lengthy rain delays meant more than 70 players failed to complete the second round.
Further downpours on Saturday prompted officials to cancel play for the entire day as they worked to get the course, particularly the flooded bunkers, in shape.
Showers punctuated Sunday’s play, and the third round finally got under way in steady rain shortly before 3pm. The rain intensified until organisers called a halt after 30 minutes. About two hours later, the round was halted for the day, and set to resume at 7.30am on Monday morning.
Scott said he got lucky with the weather on Sunday.
”It was perfect out there for us,” he said. ”For me, 13 holes, perfect. I have to take advantage of it. The way the weather has been, the goal was to get to at least nine-under, and see what happens from there … stay patient and see what happens.”
Scott had five birdies in his five-under effort. Four of them came on Sunday, including back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 and a birdie at his final hole, the ninth.
”I just missed the fairway by a couple of yards,” he said of nine. ”It wasn’t a bad lie, but it wasn’t sitting up. I managed to squeeze an eight-iron up on the same level as the pin, just 20 feet or so left of the hole. It was nice to see that go down.”
He said the Riviera Country Club course is holding up well to the rain, becoming soft enough to allow an aggressive approach.
”It’s very soft, but it’s not that wet,” he said. ”Therefore, just go right at the pin. It’s going to stop right there. If you are hitting good shots, you are going to get rewarded with some shorter putts.”
A dismal weather forecast prompted fears that not even three rounds can be completed, even if the tournament is stretched into extra days.
Tournament director Mark Russell said organisers will do all in their power to complete at least 54 holes, and he didn’t rule out the chance of 72 if the rains passed through and left sunny skies in their wake.
”We’re going to make every effort to play,” he said. ”We’ll come back tomorrow. If we can’t play tomorrow, we’ll make a decision at that time.”
But the forecast for storms raised the prospect that the tournament might be shortened to 36 holes. In that case, full prize money will be awarded, but the win will not be considered official and will not earn a tour exemption.
The last time a PGA event went only 36 holes was the 1996 Buick Challenge, which was won by Michael Bradley in a five-way playoff.
Amid the uncertainty, several players said they started the day on Sunday on the assumption that 36 holes would be all they had.
”I was talking to Tiger [Woods] on the range, and he said, ‘First one to 10,”’ said Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, whose 68 for eight-under 134 fell short of that target. ”So far, no one’s made it.”
Clarke was joined on 134 by first-round leader Brian Davis of the United Kingdom, who didn’t even get to tee off on Friday, but came back from two days off to post a 69.
Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie climbed up the leaderboard with a 64 — his best effort on United States soil — for seven-under 135, where he was joined by American JL Lewis (65).
Despite the discomfort of the rain and the inconvenience of returning on Monday, Clarke and Montgomery were keen to continue.
”I’m behind — I want to play,” Clarke said. ”Hopefully we’ll get to play … but apparently there’s really bad weather coming in.”
Montgomerie, focusing this season on getting his world ranking up after falling out of the top 50, wanted a chance to build on the momentum of his 64, which was highlighted by a chip-in for eagle at the par-four 10th.
”To play the last 10 holes today five-under is good for me,” he said. ”I shot 65s in the first two and a 64 here.”
Tiger Woods, seeking to regain the world number-one ranking he surrendered to Vijay Singh last year, was four shots off the pace after a one-under 70 that included double-bogey six at the 18th hole.
That put him in a group of nine players sharing 13th place on five-under 137. — Sapa-AFP