WGC start delayed by three hours

REUTERS

The scheduled restart to the delayed first-round matches at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship was pushed back three hours. Photo by: Matt Sullivan

MARANA, Arizona - With the sun shining but Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club still blanketed in snow, the scheduled restart to the delayed first-round matches at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship was pushed back three hours on Thursday.

Two more inches of snow fell at the venue overnight, lifting the total to four inches in under 24 hours, and any prospect of a quick melt was made impossible by plunging temperatures and early morning frost.

Weather-permitting, officials said the first-round matches at the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event would resume at 11.30am MT (1830 GMT).

Though morning frost has been forecast for the rest of the week at Dove Mountain, conditions are expected to warm up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“We'll stay in the 50s (F) the next couple of days, back to the low 60s on Saturday, and then probably upper 50s again on Sunday as another little weak front goes by,” the PGA Tour's on-site meteorologist Stewart Williams told reporters.

“But it doesn't look like it has any moisture with it, so it's just going to drop our temperature a few degrees. Unfortunately we'll have below normal temperatures for the rest of the week, but at least we'll have some sun.”

Just over three-and-a-half hours of golf was possible on Wednesday because of driving rain, sleet and then snow after 23 of the 32 matches had started with none finishing.

Players and caddies were left stunned by the sudden change in conditions and many of them ended up throwing snowballs at one another while waiting for officials to abandon play for the day.

“One minute we're playing golf, albeit it's a little cool, and then within a space of 25 minutes, it turns from playable to cold drizzle to sleet and to snow,” Ian Poulter, the 2010 champion, said. “It's just bizarre.”

Australian Jason Day was in full command against American Zach Johnson, four birdies in the first eight holes helping him go 6up after 10 while Poulter was 3up on fellow Briton Stephen Gallacher after 12.

American Bo Van Pelt was 5up on Australian John Senden after 12 holes, defending champion Hunter Mahan was 4up on Italy's Matteo Manassero after nine and American Matt Kuchar was 3up on Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita after 14.

Northern Ireland's world number one Rory McIlroy, beaten by Mahan 2&1 in last year's final, and three-times champion Tiger Woods were among those yet to start their first-round matches.

McIlroy has been drawn to play Irishman Shane Lowry in the opening round while Woods will face fellow American Charles Howell III. – Reuters