Odds on a McKechnie-Kelly play-off after

the cold and wet torpedo Hutcheon's bid

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
It rained all over Scotland again yesterday - and Gleneagles did not escape!
So much so that the £40,000 Gleneagles Scottish professional championship over the King's Course, which started off as a four-round tournament and then came down to 54 holes when no play was possible on Sunday, was further reduced to 36 holes after another day of rain.
Tuesday's play was abandoned at 3pm after a suspension due to flooding.
Twenty-eight players, including former winners Greig Hutcheon and Paul Lawrie, as well as Gavin Hay (Nairn Dunbar)  have still to complete their second rounds and will return at 9am Wednesday morning.
A play-off for the title and £6,000 first prize will be held  if necessary. And it very much looks as if it will be necessary to separate clubhouse joint leaders, 
Chris Kelly (73-66), the winner of this title in 2003, and Paul McKechnie (70-69) locked at the top on three-under-par 139, a shot ahead of defending champion Gareth Wright (71-69) who can finish no better than third now that the tournament has been reduced to two rounds. .
The combination of being very wet and very cold has made it almost impossible for the possible dangers to Kelly and McKechnie to close the gap.
Joint overnight leader Greig Hutcheon is not going to win it after a disastrous slide from seven under to eight over between the seventh and the 16th.
Paul Lawrie is two over par for the tournament with five holes still to play. He needs to cover them in three under par to get into a play-off with Kelly and McKechnie.
Some play was possible earlier today. Christopher Currie (Caldwell), overnight joint leader on five-under 66 with Greig Hutcheon, dropped to joint sixth place after a five-over 76 for 142.
Currie's only birdies in halves of 38 came at the sixth and 10th. He had a double bogey 6 at the 12th and bogeys at the second, fourth, seventh, eighth and 15th.
Title-holder Gareth Wright finished on 140 (71-69).

QUOTES FROM PLAYERS

GREIG HUTCHEON
“I was standing seven under par on the seventh tee, and I’m now eight over with two holes to play.
“I couldn’t hold the club it was so cold.”
Hutcheon’s figures from the seventh were 5 5 5 5 6 6 9 5 3. 
That’s double bogey, bogey, par, double bogey, par, double bogey, quintuple bogey, bogey, par.
Hutcheon added: "That 9 at the 14th - I took a three-iron from the tee for safety, took another three-iron for safety; a third  three-iron found the trees.  I, chipped out sideways, on the greens, two putts.”

PAUL LAWRIE
 “I was two under for the day after 11 holes and then double-bogeyed the 12th (three putts) and 13th.
 “I’ve hit a rescue club from the tee at the 14th because you couldn’t carry the bunkers before the green with a driver.Yesterday I drove through the green.
 “Conditions were impossible by the time we got to the 12th.  You couldn’t hold the clubs. It was freezing.
“It’s ridiculous, freezing cold and my brolly broke. 
"It’s a shame. It’s also massively unfair, but that’s the way it is.”
Lawrie is two over par for the tournament with five holes to play.  Needs to be three under par for those last five holes to tie with clubhouse leaders Kelly and McKechnie.

CHRIS KELLY
"It's my first event of the year but I've done a lot of good practice over the last three weeks. You're still never sure what your  game will be like. I have my goals for the year but I'm not telling you guys! I just want to play golf and keep myself to myself."
Kelly, who has no club attachment, put himself firmly in the title picture with birdies at the ninth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14 on his way to a five-under-par 66

GRAHAM FOX
“I played played five-and-a-half holes this morning for a 73. It was cold and the wind had switched from yesterday, making the back nine a lot tougher.”

GARETH WRIGHT
“I got off to a good start this morning by making birdies at the eighth, ninth and tenth - that made the early rise feel worthwhile.
"That was as tough as we’ve ever had it here - it was a war of attrition more than anything out there. An east wind makes it really tough.
“At the 12th today I hit a drive and 4-ironwhereas it was a gap wedge for the approach on Monday..
“The 14th is usually a gimme birdie but I came up 40 yards short today.”

PAUL McKECHNIE
"I had three holes to play this morning and birdied two of them - the 16th and 18th - for a 69. I was prepared for the possibility the tournament  might be decided over 36 holes so it was a good finish."
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FINAL TOTALS
Sunday's first round and Wednesday's final round cancelled
 Par 142 (2x71)
A total of 28 players have still to finish from 9am Wednesday morning, weather permitting.
139 Chris Kelly (unatt) 73 66, Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 70 69.
140 Gareth Wright (West Linton) 71 69
141 Jonathan Lomas (Caprington) 71 70, David Orr (Eastwood) 67 74
142  Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) 71 71, Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) 69 73, Christopher Currie (Caldwell) 66 76
143  Mark Hillson (Tandridge) 75 68, Greg McBain (Paul Lawrie GC) 73 70, Craig Sutherland (Cherry Lodge) 70 73
144 Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy) 72 72, Sam Binning (Mearns Castle) 67 77, K McNicoll (Gullane) 70 74
145 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 73 72.
146 Ross Drummond (unatt) 77 69, Anthony Mackrell (Playsport Golf) 76 70, Alan Duncan (Golf Moray) 71 75, Stuart Williamson (Clydeway Golf) 72 74, Colin Robinson (Elie Links) 72 74, Stephen Gray (Hayston) 72 74
148 Alasdair Good (Gullane) 72 76, Kenny Hutton (Downfield) 72 76, Gary Dingwall (Royal Dornoch) 72  76, Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 74 74, Brian Marchbank (unatt) 74 74, Paul Wardell (North Berwick) 74 74
149 Scott Herald (St Andrews Links GA) 77 72, Craig Everett (Caldwell) 74 75, Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) 74 75, Louis Gaughan (Bathgate) 76 73, Stephen McAllister) 72 77, Jason McCreadie (Largs) 71 78
150 Ian Taylor (Drumpellier) 76 74, Christopher Robinson (Portpatrick Dunskey) 70 80, Fraser Dunlop (Gleneagles) 71 79, Cameron Farrell (Cardross) 70 80.
151 Michael Patterson (Kilmacolm) 73 79. Daniel Wood (Hirsel) 76 75, Michael Mackenzie (Edzell) 74 77
152 Heather MacRae (Gleneagles) 79 73, Fraser Cromarty (Nairn) 77 75, Lee Vannet (Craibstone) 77 75, Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) 70 82.
153 Andrew Hutchison (Douglas Park) 76 77, Steven Rettie (Callaway) 78 75, Garry Forrester (St Andrews GS) 75 78.
154 Ken Campbell (Machrihanish) 81 73, Joel Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen) 76 78, Andrew Cooper (Newmachar) 76 78
155 Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) 75 80, Greg Paxton (Ralston) 76 79, Sam McLaren (Blairgowrie) 77 78, Malcolm Isaacs (Newmachar) 76 79
156 Stephen Speirs (unatt) 80 76, James Dick (Duddingstn) 76 80, Patrick Walker (Ballumbie Castle) 76 80, Jonathan Sharp (Carrick on Loch Lomond) 77 79, Jonathan Sharp (Carrick on Loch Lomond) 77 79, Ian Anderson (Colville Park) 75 81    
157 Fraser Robertson (Lundin) 81 76, Christopher Tierney (Bishopbriggs) 75 82, Martyn Huish (North Berwick) 74 83, Matthew Burt (Helensburgh) 74 83, Rory Tinker (Piperdam) 79 78
158 Russell McIntyre (Whitekirk) 81 77
159 Ross McConnachie (Peterculter) 79 80, Ross Neil (Drumpellier) 77 82, Alasdair McDonald (Dunnikier Park) 80 79
160 Gavin Cook (Elie Links) 78 82
161 Jonathan Porteous (Craigielaw) 78 83, Graham Mackay (Melville GR) 82 79, Derek Ramsay (Moray) 78 83.
162 Alan McCandlish (Kingsbarns) 81 81, Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) 82 80, Kamran Zeynalov (Portlethen) 79 83, Andrew Jowett (Gleneagles) 80 82, Fraser Cramb (Crieff) 82 80, Neil Cameron (Blairgowrie) 81 81
163 Andrew McHardy (Noah's Ark GC) 78 85, Fraser Rummins (Canmore) 80 83.
164 Murray Patterson (Cruden Bay) 80 84, Ricky Gray (American Golf) 81 83
165 Paul Wytrazek (Burntisland) 86 79, Calum Lawson (Elmwood) 85 80
166 Sean Fay (Royal Dornoch) 85 81
168 Nichola Ferguson (American Golf) 83 85
169 Scott Smith (Scotscraig) 81 88, Ewan Macpherson (Auchterarder) 82 87.
170 Cameron Adam (Linlithgow) 83 87, Scott Costello (Strathaven) 87 83.