Last week at The Players Championship, fans wondered if the tournament would ever end. This week, the questions seem to center around whether or not the tournament will ever begin!
Play was once again suspended today before any golfer had a chance to hit a single shot. Play is set to resume Saturday morning at 7am ET. Right now, the schedule is to play 18 holes on Saturday, 18 holes Sunday, and then finish by with 36 holes on Monday. A Monday finish looks to be in the cards again, but this week is much different than last week. The Masters is scheduled to begin next Thursday, and you can bet all participants in The Masters will want to be at their best when the first major of 2005 rolls around.
The weather is supposed to be clear for the weekend, which is at least a little big of good news. It is supposed to be a little cooler for the first round on Saturday, with winds blowing 20-30 MPH. It will be warmer and the wind is expected to die down for Sunday and Monday. The Monday finish will keep some players from having their first practice round for The Masters, but at least this course is similar in some ways to Augusta.
The PGA Tour players are definitely getting used to the rain delays early in the 2005 season. This week seems to be even worse, however, as nobody has even hit a single shot in tournament play through the first two days. Players may enjoy a rainout at The International in Castle Pines, CO – they have some of the best milkshakes in the world there – but to say they welcome the rain in Atlanta is, well, it’s stretching it a bit.
Luke Donald withdrew from the BellSouth Classic on Thursday with a “sore shoulder.” After Friday’s cancellation, fans and players alike began wondering who else might suddenly have an injury before driving northward to Augusta. Stuart Appleby, Chris DiMarco, and Steve Flesch pulled out of the tournament late Friday. Donald, Appleby, DiMarco, and Flesch have been invited to The Masters next week. Defending Masters champ Phil Mickelson plans to stick around, as do U.S. Open champ Retief Goosen and 2004 BellSouth champ Zach Johnson.
The BellSouth Classic is scheduled to be broadcast tomorrow and Sunday on NBC from 3-6pm ET. There is no word regarding Monday television coverage, but we’re hopeful that NBC will once again put golf above daytime soap operas, as they did last week in showing the final round from the TPC at Sawgrass.
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