MONDAY FINISH FOR RAIN-HIT AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
The Australian PGA Championship will be completed on Monday after constant, heavy rain that began falling on Saturday night left officials with no choice but to suspend play on Sunday afternoon (local time) at Hyatt Regency Coolum.
More than 60mm of rain has fallen since 6pm (AEST) Saturday night on Australia's Sunshine Coast and while 46 players managed to complete their final rounds on Sunday, 24 were still on the course when organisers made the decision to call them back to the clubhouse at 2pm.
With about two hours' play remaining in the event, with the final group of leader Peter Senior and American Bobby Gates having reached the 10th tee when the siren was sounded to suspend play, it had been hoped that play could continue later on Sunday.
But after further assessments of the course, it was decided at 4:28pm to leave a resumption until 6am on Monday morning, meaning Australia will have its first fifth-day finish to an event since the 1987 Australian Open.
Senior will begin on Monday at 12 under and leading by a shot from fellow Australian veteran Peter Fowler and New Zealand Open champion Gates, although Senior's tee shot at the 10th went to the right and found the trees.
Two strokes back are 2008 champion and last-start Australian Open winner Geoff Ogilvy, his playing partner Richard Green, Matthew Griffin and Andre Stolz, who briefly shared the lead earlier in the day.
Defending champion Robert Allenby has also loomed into contention at minus nine, along with John Senden and Aaron Townsend while Liang Wenchong and Nick O'Hern, twice a winner previously at Coolum, are equal 11th on eight under.
While the elements often intervene at Coolum, which has received 385mm or 15.4 inches of rain in the past eight days, the tournament has always been completed on time at the venue although the first visit in 2002 saw Peter Lonard and Jarrod Moseley tie for the title.
The pair had played three holes of a sudden-death playoff after tying at 72 holes but with the light fading and neither player wanting to return on the Monday to find a winner they decided to share the crown.
With the course softened by so much rain, Gates had looked steady out in front at 13 under after he'd recovered from a bogey at the 2nd with a pair of birdies at the next two holes.
Having briefly dropped back to a share of the lead with Senior, Stolz and Townsend, Gates had regained control when Stolz and Townsend both dropped shots almost immediately and then he collected the back-to-back birdies.
But he had a birdie putt at the 5th lip out and then Senior finally rolled in his first birdie of the day at moments later to cut the deficit to a stroke, soon after 1983 Australian Open champion Fowler had also birdied the 5th to climb to 11 under.
Things began to go wrong for Gates when he missed a 1m putt for par at the 8th to share the lead with Senior before he found further trouble at the 9th when he hit into a bunker and eventually missed a 5m par putt that lipped out, with Senior holing his own 3.5m putt for the outright lead.
Victorian Marc Leishman and New Zealander Richard Lee shared completed round of the day honours with matching six-under 66s although Lee's score could have been even lower after he collected two eagles and five birdies but also had a double bogey and a bogey.
Victorian Jarrod Lyle looked set to possibly go as low as 64 when he was six under for the day after seven holes thanks to an eagle and four birdies but finished with a 67 after a pair of late bogeys while Western Australian Brett Rumford had six birdies in his first 10 holes but also shot 67.
TO ACCESS THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE SCOREBOARD
CLICK HERE
The Australian PGA Championship will be completed on Monday after constant, heavy rain that began falling on Saturday night left officials with no choice but to suspend play on Sunday afternoon (local time) at Hyatt Regency Coolum.
More than 60mm of rain has fallen since 6pm (AEST) Saturday night on Australia's Sunshine Coast and while 46 players managed to complete their final rounds on Sunday, 24 were still on the course when organisers made the decision to call them back to the clubhouse at 2pm.
With about two hours' play remaining in the event, with the final group of leader Peter Senior and American Bobby Gates having reached the 10th tee when the siren was sounded to suspend play, it had been hoped that play could continue later on Sunday.
But after further assessments of the course, it was decided at 4:28pm to leave a resumption until 6am on Monday morning, meaning Australia will have its first fifth-day finish to an event since the 1987 Australian Open.
Senior will begin on Monday at 12 under and leading by a shot from fellow Australian veteran Peter Fowler and New Zealand Open champion Gates, although Senior's tee shot at the 10th went to the right and found the trees.
Two strokes back are 2008 champion and last-start Australian Open winner Geoff Ogilvy, his playing partner Richard Green, Matthew Griffin and Andre Stolz, who briefly shared the lead earlier in the day.
Defending champion Robert Allenby has also loomed into contention at minus nine, along with John Senden and Aaron Townsend while Liang Wenchong and Nick O'Hern, twice a winner previously at Coolum, are equal 11th on eight under.
While the elements often intervene at Coolum, which has received 385mm or 15.4 inches of rain in the past eight days, the tournament has always been completed on time at the venue although the first visit in 2002 saw Peter Lonard and Jarrod Moseley tie for the title.
The pair had played three holes of a sudden-death playoff after tying at 72 holes but with the light fading and neither player wanting to return on the Monday to find a winner they decided to share the crown.
With the course softened by so much rain, Gates had looked steady out in front at 13 under after he'd recovered from a bogey at the 2nd with a pair of birdies at the next two holes.
Having briefly dropped back to a share of the lead with Senior, Stolz and Townsend, Gates had regained control when Stolz and Townsend both dropped shots almost immediately and then he collected the back-to-back birdies.
But he had a birdie putt at the 5th lip out and then Senior finally rolled in his first birdie of the day at moments later to cut the deficit to a stroke, soon after 1983 Australian Open champion Fowler had also birdied the 5th to climb to 11 under.
Things began to go wrong for Gates when he missed a 1m putt for par at the 8th to share the lead with Senior before he found further trouble at the 9th when he hit into a bunker and eventually missed a 5m par putt that lipped out, with Senior holing his own 3.5m putt for the outright lead.
Victorian Marc Leishman and New Zealander Richard Lee shared completed round of the day honours with matching six-under 66s although Lee's score could have been even lower after he collected two eagles and five birdies but also had a double bogey and a bogey.
Victorian Jarrod Lyle looked set to possibly go as low as 64 when he was six under for the day after seven holes thanks to an eagle and four birdies but finished with a 67 after a pair of late bogeys while Western Australian Brett Rumford had six birdies in his first 10 holes but also shot 67.
TO ACCESS THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE SCOREBOARD
CLICK HERE
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posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, December 12, 2010
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