First Round Postponed, 36 Holes To Be Played Sunday

By Dave Shedloski

Newport, R.I. – The difficulty of any U.S. Golf Association championship can leave players in a fog, but the gauzy mist that enveloped Newport Country Club Thursday left everyone at the U.S. Women’s Open frustrated and dazed – and behind schedule.

Unexpected misty interference prevented the 61^st U.S. Women’s Open from commencing Thursday, setting up a potential 36-hole finale on Sunday and adding a further twist to golf’s toughest test. Not one shot was struck in the opening round after heavy fog rolled in off Newport Harbor and refused to abate.

To kill some time Michelle Wie works on the driving range Thursday afternoon. (John Mummert/USGA)

The championship was to begin at 7 a.m. EDT but was delayed time and again until officials postponed the round at 2:45 p.m. Visibility never exceeded more than 300-400 yards, and only then for a brief period. Though rain is anticipated overnight in this coastal town where 21 of the last 27 days have had precipitation, the first round is again scheduled for 7 a.m., and second-round play at 7 a.m. Saturday. After the cut – the low 60 scores and ties and any contestant within 10 shots of the lead – players will go off in threesomes from both the first and 10^th tees for the final two rounds.

"Obviously, golf is an outdoor sport, and it’s unusual to get fog where you’re delayed or you can’t play all day long," said Mike Davis, Senior Director of Rules and Competitions for the USGA. "We can’t remember a time at one of our national championships where it actually caused an all-day delay."

Davis interjected one "silver lining" into an otherwise gray and murky situation: that anticipated heavy rains never materialized, giving a saturated course time to drain, though the misty blanket that shrouded this historic golf landscape didn’t allow for much drying on the par-71 layout.

"We’re probably going to have a better golf course from here on out than we anticipated having," he said.

The last time suspensions due to weather forced a 36-hole final day in the U.S. Women’s Open was 1990, when Betsy King defeated Patty Sheehan by a stroke at Atlanta Athletic Club. Weather and a playoff pushed the 1987 championship at Plainfield, N.J., into Tuesday before Laura Davies dispatched JoAnne Carner and Ayako Okamoto.

The last 36-hole Sunday in any USGA event occurred at the 2004 U.S. Senior Open at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, which was won by Peter Jacobsen.

The USGA's Mike Davis, addressing the media Thursday, said that all 72 holes will be played in the championship. (John Mummert/USGA)

On Sunday, hole locations and tee markers will be changed between the third and fourth rounds, but the players will not be repaired due to time constraints.

"I would much rather we started all over again and make it an interesting Sunday," said Paula Creamer, who arrived at the course at 5:30 a.m., shortly before that decision was announced. "Playing 36 (Sunday) is better than an extra day. I’ve worked out enough to handle 36 in a day. I think a lot of the players here would have no problem."

Davis said the USGA is committed to completing 72 holes to determine a winner, not including a playoff, which is contested at 18 holes. He added that a 36-hole finale and Sunday finish is preferable to automatically extending the tournament into Monday, though weather may dictate otherwise. With sunrise at 5:13 a.m. EDT, tee times could be pushed forward to allow for further delays.

"I think the feeling is that everybody wants to see this championship end Sunday, including spectators, television, media, the USGA," said Davis. "If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, we may be into Monday. And, obviously, if there’s an 18-hole playoff, we’re there already."

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.