Constant wind and rain have wrecked havoc with the 2013 PGA Tour season opener at Kapalua. Scott Stallings is one player who has tried to weather a lengthy early season delay. Photo by PGATour.com.
Two days into the 2013 PGA Tour season and there still has not been one shot struck at the 2012 winners only Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, HI. To be fair, however, most players began their opening rounds Friday, but after a pair of weather suspensions Tour officials decided to scrap the scores compiled by every player in the field. The difficult windy and rainy conditions haven’t been seen at Kapalua for the Tour’s opening event in some time, but they have cause havoc with the players, officials and fans alike.
First time participant Jonas Blixt didn’t seem to be too fazed by the less than fair weather conditions. On Saturday – a day players were supposed to play 36 holes on the water-logged Plantation Course – the Swede was rumoured to have played a few holes during the third weather delay of the event. It was later discovered that Blixt was only hitting golf balls on the practice range and not any part of the lengthy par-73 layout. Had he actually been playing on the actual course I think he would have been disqualified, but to be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure that is correct. Guess I need to read up on my rules.
But I’ll do that another time, althought that might be some other time this weekend … should the championship fail to get off the tee for the third straight day.
For now I’m left to speculate as to whether or not the season-opening event will go down in the record books as an official PGA Tour event. And of course I’m still left wondering who will win at Kapalua – official or not. I’m sticking with my Friday pick of Dustin Johnson. The big-hitting South Carolina native is due to make a huge splash this season, and starting the season with a victory is quite likely. That is especially true now that the
Plantation Course will play much longer than its 7,452 yards. Oh, and the fact that DJ Long Ball has previously won a rain delayed PGA Tour event (2009 AT&T Championship at Pebble Beach).
Rain or shine, here’s hoping we finally have some golf to watch on Sunday.
Liewicki Leaks 