PGA Tour's Peculiar Devotion To Completing 72-Holes Enters New Category
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Whoa Nellie!
I thought I'd seen it all when it came to the nuttiness of trying to get in 72 holes no matter how inconvenient...
Mike McAllister on the PGA Tour's site lays out the options for the Barclays as Hurricane Irene closes in on the east coast.
With Friday expected to be a good weather day, the odds are good that the first two rounds will be completed, even though a 3 hour, 16-minute weather delay prevented the first round from being completed Thursday.
Provided that two rounds are in the books and that Sunday is expected to be wiped out due to Irene, that could mean the possibility of a Monday finish; a Tuesday finish (provided certain provisions in the bylaws are met); or even a 54-hole event. The last option is not one that anybody wants, particularly the players.
Oh if I were a volunteer, media or anyone else in the area, I'd be more than happy to see things end on Sunday as a 100-year storm is headed my way!
Steve Elling also goes through the tour options and says 54 is only an option if the course is unplayable next week. He quotes one player who actually has a grip on the big picture.
Jonathan Byrd, who opened with a 65, was asked if he'd rather potentially stay until Tuesday or chop off 18 holes and finish Saturday, and there was a surprisingly long pause before he answered.
"I'd say finish on Saturday with 54 and just let everybody [understand], so everybody knows that's the deal," Byrd said. "I mean, it's a big predicament, because there's just a lot on the line."
Jason Sobel considers the scenarios and thinks a Saturday finish of some kind is the ideal, and so does another wise player.
“I think they should,” said Ryan Palmer, who posted an opening-round 66. “If they want to play 72 holes, they should have us play as much as we can on Saturday.”
Garry Smits, who has seen his share of hurricanes blow through Florida, is having a hard time understanding the lack of urgency despite what satellite images and projections are saying.
The Tour apparently has lost sight of the fact that after a Category 3 storm rolls through a particular area, facilities such as golf courses will still be under water for days afterward — to say nothing of the power that likely will be lost for up to a week.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has already asked for voluntary evaucations from coastal areas of south Jersey. Cape May, as an example, is only 112 miles from Edison, where The Barclays is being played.
