June 26, 2009
Slow Start at the 109th US Open
The 109th US Open made a slow start at Bethpage with play being suspended early into the opening round because of torrential rain.
The rain was relentless and the greens staff were not given the chance to squeegee the greens fast enough to clear the water. At one point the greens were more like shallow ponds or rivers and there was just no way anything more could have been done to help resume play.
The players only managed 3 hours 16 minutes playing time before the decision was made to suspend play. After consultation with the organisers the USGA made the decision to suspend play and resume it on Friday morning at 7:30am local time which meant half of the 156 man strong field had still to tee off. The opening two groups just managed to finish up to the 11th hole when the call was made to suspend play.
When play was suspended Americans Jeff Brehaut and Ryan Spears, Sweden’s Johan Edfors and Canadian Andrew Parr were leading the way on one-under-par. Tiger Woods, who was playing with the Open and USPGA champion Padraig Harrington and Masters champion Angel Cabrera, was 2 shots back on one-over-par through six holes.
The US Open will undoubtedly require at least an extra day’s playing time depending there are no more breaks in play due to the torrential rain. If there are any more play suspensions we could see the tournament carry on to Tuesday or even Wednesday as the USGA have strict rules that means their national competition must be determined over 72 holes.
