PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Rain continued to fall at Riviera Country Club Sunday, forcing the suspension of the third round of the Nissan Open. Adam Scott and Chad Campbell are tied for the lead at the weather- plagued event.
The only question is, what’s next?
Here’s what is official. The third round is scheduled to resume at 10:30 a.m. (et) Monday.
Tournament officials say that the intention is to play 72 holes, but that seems unrealistic due to heavier storms forecasted for Monday. If no more golf can be played, the scores from the 12 players who finished holes in the third round will be wiped out and the tournament will revert to a 36-hole event. That would mean Scott and Campbell would have a playoff.
If more than half of the field complete the third round on Monday, players would be obligated to finish the third round, which could make for a Tuesday finish.
That would cause even more problems because the WGC-Match Play Championship begins on Wednesday.
‘We’re getting into waters here that I can never remember being in,’ said Mark Russell, PGA Tour Tournament Director. ‘We’re not going to make a decision on anything until the morning. We’re going to wait and see. We’ll make every effort to play.’
The last time a PGA Tour event was shortened to 36 holes was the 1996 Buick Challenge, which was won by Michael Bradley. The 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic was shortened to 54 holes before Luke Donald claimed victory.
The tournament has been plagued by weather all week. On Friday, there was a four-hour delay and on Saturday, not a single shot was struck. Sunday’s second round featured a two-hour stoppage, then the completion of the round.
Another delay stopped the third round with no player completing more than two holes.
Scott finished his second round on Sunday and birdied his final hole to shoot a five-under 66. He is tied with Campbell, who posted a six-under 65 on Friday, at nine-under-par 133.
Darren Clarke carded a three-under 68 and is tied for third place with Brian Davis, the first-round leader who did not hit a single shot in his second round until Sunday. Davis posted a two-under 69 and matched Clarke at minus- eight.
Scott, who opened the second round on the back nine, collected four birdies through his first 12 holes to get within one of Campbell’s lead. He knew that there was the possibility of the tournament being reduced to 36 holes, so Scott needed a birdie coming in to tie Campbell.
At the ninth, his 18th, Scott missed the fairway right, which hurt more than usual considering play has been contested under lift, clean and place. He was able to get an eight-iron on his ball and hit his approach 20 feet left of the hole.
Scott drained the birdie putt to grab his share of the lead.
‘I had a pretty good line and it was probably one of my better strokes. It was nice to see that go down,’ said Scott, who won last year’s Players Championship. ‘I knew what I had to do there today. The goal was to get to at least nine-under and see what happens.’
Scott, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, would love to add victory No. 4, although it might not be an official win. If the tournament is trimmed to 36 holes, the win would not be official, but the prize money would be.
‘That seems strange, but I’m not sure why,’ said Scott. ‘Do you not get to put that down on your profile? I don’t know. Does it count at all? I guess there must be a reason for it. I can’t think of one though.’
Colin Montgomerie, who lost a playoff to Steve Elkington at Riviera for the 1995 PGA Championship, fired a second-round, seven-under 64. He is tied for fifth place with J.L. Lewis, who carded a 65 on Sunday, at seven-under-par 135.
Robert Allenby (67), Aaron Baddeley (67), Billy Mayfair (66), Bob Tway (68), Kevin Sutherland (69) and Fred Funk (67) share seventh place at minus-six.
Tiger Woods needed a solo fourth or better to regain the No. 1 world ranking. Since the tournament will most likely be reduced, world ranking points will be worth 75 percent of their value. That means Woods will now need at least a third-place finish to unseat Vijay Singh from first.
Woods double-bogeyed his final hole in Sunday’s second round and shot a one- under 70. He is part of a group tied for 13th at five-under-par 137.
Two-time defending champion Mike Weir posted a second-round, two-over 73 and is knotted in 37th place at minus-two.
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