UPDATE 2: This story has been updated after PGA Tour officials delayed starting the final round by several hours on Monday morning.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect an email sent to PGA Tour players about the finish of The Northern Trust.
PGA Tour pros got a rare day off on Sunday, and they all had different ways they planned to spend it: family time, chipping in the hallway, Netflix, etc. The day off, of course, was due to the threat of Hurricane Henri bringing heavy rain, wind and damage to Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J. So Sunday was called off, with the plan to finish on Monday. But what if Monday isn’t in the cards, either?
The PGA Tour will try to complete the entire final round on Monday with threesomes off both tees beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET after officials delayed the start by four hours. The Tour also plans to finish the tournament and crown a winner even if it lingers into Tuesday, or longer.
Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis tweeted a photo of an email sent to players explaining the need for a 72-hole finish and clarifying that the three FedEx Cup Playoff events will be allowed to resume beyond Mondays regardless of how many holes are completed — a modification from the Tour’s Bad Weather Guidelines.
Based on the Tour’s handbook, previously allowing a Tuesday finish or later would be extremely rare. Under the Tour’s Bad Weather Guidelines, it states: Except for The Players Championship, in the event of a suspension during a final round being played on Monday when at least half of the field has completed play, the final round will be completed on Tuesday, but no later. Further, in no situation would we resume play in order to have 50% or more of the field complete their round. If play cannot be completed on Tuesday, scores will revert back to the last completed round and the competition will be considered closed. … Except for The Players Championship, play will not extend past Tuesday under any circumstances unless the event can be rescheduled and replayed in its entirety. This scenario would occur only if no more than 18 holes had been completed and an acceptable open date were available.
The Tour, however, has decided to make modifications for one of its marquee events.
On Sunday night, the Tour also announced that the final round would be held without spectators. Liberty National received more than six inches of rain from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, and 1-2 more inches are expected overnight Sunday to Monday, according to the Tour’s release.
“With more rain forecasted throughout the day on Monday, including a possible afternoon thunderstorm, officials determined that contesting the final round without spectators onsite would be the safest path moving forward,” the release read.
The Tour made additional modifications to the schedule on Monday morning, pushing back tee times by four hours in an attempt to give the course a little more time to dry out before sending players back out. The final grouping of Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and Erik van Rooyen is scheduled to tee off at 1:42 p.m. off the 1st tee.
