Mother Nature wreaked havoc with golf in 2013. Here are the 10 most memorable moments.
Mother Nature wreaked havoc with golf in 2013. Here are the 10 most memorable moments.
The Stadium Course received more than 5 inches of rain in a 36-hour period, prompting officials to close it to spectators on the Monday of Players Championship week to allow for drainage. Once the tournament started, it didn’t escape delays, but it did finish on time, no mean feat in 2013. (AP)
The Farmers Insurance Open had not had a weather delay since 2005, but it couldn’t escape one this year. A persistent fog in the San Diego area resulted in the loss of a day as no one in the field played more than a single hole. The backup led to a Monday finish. (Getty)
The smog was so bad in Beijing for the inaugural Reignwood LPGA Classic that many players opted to wear surgical masks. (Getty)
Nearly 5 inches of rain on Thursday backed up the first round a day at Locust Hill in Pittsford, N.Y., leading to a 36-hole finish on Sunday. (Getty)
At Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, a place whose regular PGA Tour stop sees its share of rain in June, October was supposed to be a dry month. Didn’t turn out that way, as the Presidents Cup matches were halted three times by inclement weather, then, adding insult to injury, the closing ceremony was canceled because of the weather. (Getty)
A fast-moving thunderstorm packing winds of more than 60 mph roared across Bay Hill on the Sunday of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, delaying the tournament’s finish until Monday. The storm dumped more than an inch of rain on the course, left small ponds in several fairways and toppled a TV tower. It also delayed by a day Tiger Woods’ eighth win at Bay Hill and his return to the No. 1 world ranking for the first time since October 2010. (Getty)
In its first year designated as the LPGA’s fifth major, the Evian Championship couldn’t catch a break. Rain saturated the Evian Resort Golf Club course in the days before the tournament. Thursday’s first round was washed out. It rained again Saturday night, but LPGA agronomist John Miller covered all the greens with tarps, making it possible to start - and finish - the final round on Sunday. (Getty)
When the LPGA arrived at Paradise Island for the inaugural Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, portions of the Ocean Club Course at Atlantis were still under water from the heavy rains earlier in the week. Thursday’s scheduled first round was canceled and the tournament shortened to 54 holes. But even that plan proved too ambitious. In the end, the tournament was shortened to three 12-hole rounds. (Getty)
High winds in Hawaii resulted in what was believed to be the first Monday start to a tournament in PGA Tour history. All but six players teed off in the scheduled start of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Friday, but wind gusts in excess of 40 mph caused officials to scrap the round. A hoped-for Saturday start never materialized. Players were sent out again on Sunday, but the round lasted just over an hour before being canceled. The tournament was shortened to 54 holes - 36 on Monday and a final 18 on Tuesday. (Getty)
When players arrived at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz., in late February for the first WGC event of the season, they were greeted by weather more suitable for skiing than golf. Almost 2 inches of snow canceled all play on Wednesday afternoon, with none of the first-round matches completed and 10 of the matches unable even to start. The start of Thursday’s play was also delayed. “There was a guy building a snowman this morning at 8, and they said they were going off at 10:30,” Russell Henley said of the Thursday delay. “I figured it was going to be awhile.” (Getty)