PEBBLE BEACH – PGA Tour regulations state that tournament officials must make every effort to complete 72 holes in a given event, and every effort will likely be needed to play four rounds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The weather forecast for the final round of the $20 million marquee event on Sunday does not appear to be conducive to allowing competition to resume on schedule. Rainfall of 1 to 3 inches was expected to further saturate the already soggy layout, and if that wasn't enough to make Pebble Beach unplayable, winds in excess of 30 mph were set to arrive, with gusts It's 60 mph, around 10 PM PST. Saturday and continues all day Sunday.
The final round is scheduled to begin at 7:45 a.m. Sunday. Wyndham Clark, after a course-record 12-under 60, leads Ludwig Aberg by one stroke at 17-under 199. If the event is shortened to 54 holes, Clark will take home his third round title and $3.6 million.
The tournament was already challenging during the first three days due to the wet weather. At least 12 balls were lost because they became stuck in the rain-soaked grass at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. One of them belonged to Clark in the first round on the seventh hole at Spyglass Hill, where he went on to save bogey. One player at Spyglass lost a ball that fell into the fairway but it was dug so deep that no one could find it.
Chairman of referees Gary Young said conditions would be assessed at 5am and players would be updated at 5:15. If there is a delay, a second update will be provided at 9:45. If the round is postponed until Monday, when more rain is expected, the same schedule of updates will begin. If the final round does not begin by 10:15 a.m. PT Monday, the tournament will be reduced to 54 holes and Clark will be declared the winner.
Citing the tour's regulations, Young explained that “we can't start playing on Monday without knowing that we can finish playing on Monday. If we do that, and then the weather hits for some reason that causes us to be late again, and if more than half the field is finished playing, We will extend play until Tuesday, but we need more than half of them to complete their round on Monday.
Due to the potential for dangerous conditions due to high winds, fans will not be allowed on the property on Sunday, even if there is a golf course. However, this seems unlikely. Although the green is slowed to account for the wind, Young estimated that the balls likely would not remain stationary if wind speeds exceeded 40 mph.
Tournament director Steve John said he consulted with tournament operations about the possibility of removing some of the tents and structures on the property in preparation for high winds, but there is not enough time and almost every structure can withstand gusts, even if they reach the expected speed of 60 mph.
Young said he was “hopeful” the 80-player field could complete 72 holes. But conditions must be manageable.
“We want to make sure we have a tournament to play under… Now we know we've played three rounds where everyone was playing under the same conditions,” Young said. “Everyone realizes we've had some golf balls that got clogged and lost out there. We just want to make sure that on Monday, if we get to that point, the golf course allows us to have a good tournament, and that the conditions are up to professional standards.”
