The PGA Championship will attempt to push the leaders through 36-holes on Sunday after thunderstorms interrupted the third round at Baltusrol Golf Club. Players were removed from the course at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday due to dangerous weather and driving rain with the last 10 players failing to hit a shot in their third round. Only 37 of 86 players completed round three.
The third round will resume at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and the final round will begin at 8:40 a.m. in nine minute intervals; staying in the same pairings as Round 3, starting from the first tee.
The forecast suggests the rain and storms aren’t going anywhere fast, with a significant chance the tournament is heading for a Monday finish, just as it did in 2005 when last at Baltusrol.
When asked if the PGA of America could have forecast the weather and perhaps started from two tees earlier on Saturday, Chief Championship Officer Kerry Haigh said it was not significantly discussed.
‘The forecast, actually the last three days, has called for very similar weather, which summer weather, it’s 90 degrees, actually it was a bit cooler today, with a chance of afternoon storms,’ Haigh explained.
‘It’s a major championship and we certainly try and look at starting from one tee wherever we can. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t help us today. I think we have sort of a similar forecast for tomorrow. Our hope is that those showers or storms hit elsewhere.’
An explanation of tomorrow’s schedule of play from Chief Championships Officer of the @PGAofAmerica, Kerry Haigh. https://t.co/tzem3lStEt
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) July 31, 2016
As for the fact some players will potentially be finished the final round before others complete round three, Haigh said it should add to the drama.
‘That’s one of the unfortunate things, whether it’s positive or negative, you could argue it both ways,’ he said.
‘But certainly if you go back in history, players didn’t necessarily go off in order in some of the older major championships. That will be an interesting dynamic for sure. Add to the excitement, actually.’
Defending champion and world No. 1 Jason Day, who is tied third just two back, tried to find the positives.
‘The plus side was that I didn’t actually have to go out. Obviously if you get off to a bad start, you’re thinking about it, and vice versa is if you get off to a good start, you’re thinking about it, as well,’ he said.
‘Hopefully we can get it in over the next day or so. It would be nice to get the 72 holes in.’
Day was gearing up to be aggressive in the soft conditions.
‘Obviously the rain is going to soften up the golf course, so you’ve got to be a little bit aggressive out there,’ he said.
‘It should yield a few more birdies and if you can do that, but also stay patient with regards to the weather, just keep yourself mentally intact. Because a lot of sitting around can get you kind of off base and if you don’t stay on top of it, you can start playing some poor golf.’
Streb, who has never been in this position in a major championship, was just trying to figure out what to do.
‘I guess just go home, hang out with the family and might be waiting around tomorrow morning, too,’ he said. ‘I’m guessing we’re going to be here till at least Monday, hopefully not Tuesday. But we’ll see how it goes and just kind of take today as a day of rest.
‘I’ll try to keep it the same. Still got to play 36 holes and start fresh tomorrow and see how many we get in.’
From pgatour.com
