Storm postpones first round of PGA Tour regular-season finale, adding more chaos to pressure-packed week

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[PHOTO: David Jensen]

One of the most intense tournaments in the golf calendar will have to wait another day for its official start the PGA Tour announced late on Thursday morning, US time. Amid heavy rains, with Tropical Storm Debby passing through North Carolina, the first round of the Wyndham Championship has been postponed until Friday.

The event has long served as the tour’s regular-season finale, with players jockeying for position as the FedEx Cup Playoffs loom. But with two inches of rain expected in a 24-hour span, and more to come on Friday, the conditions at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, had become unplayable even before the first scheduled tee-time at 6:50am.

Originally, play was delayed until the afternoon, but as all eyes turned to the radar, the models increasingly showed bad news – none of this was letting up.

In conversations with PGA Tour chief referee Ken Tackett on Wednesday, he expressed confidence that even with a full wash-out on Thursday, the tournament had a very good chance of concluding by Monday at the latest – the forecast from Saturday is favourable. He even outlined a scenario where if the cut could be made on Saturday night, it might be possible to play 36 holes on Sunday and finish close to the original concluding time.

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The bad news is that the forecast calls for continued rain all day Thursday and into Friday morning and early afternoon, with the potential for clear skies in the later afternoon. As Tackett noted, Sedgefield is positioned in a valley, and while drainage systems are efficient, the sheer amount of expected rain could make it difficult to start play in a timely manner even after the rain stops.

Still, total rainfall on Friday should be significantly less, and there is always incentive for a Sunday finish if at all possible.

There is plenty at stake in Greensboro this weekend; at the conclusion of the Wyndham, the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will make the tour’s postseason beginning in Memphis next week.

Min Woo Lee is still rocking his Australian Olympic golf bag at the Wyndham Championship