It was fitting that one of the early leaders in such tough conditions was Andrew Parr. He was one under after two holes, a score held by a few others, usually briefly, as players struggled in the wind and rain. The greens were continually squeegeed, sometimes while players were on them, to keep the water off.
When Tiger Woods and his marquee group, which also included Ángel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington, stepped to the first tee with the rain falling steadily, fans near the crowded the tee box managed to keep a sense of humor. After applause greeted Woods’s introduction like a crack of thunder, one fan yelled out, “Go, Padraig.” Another shouted, “Go, Tiger.” There was a pause, and then from across the bleachers, someone yelled, “O.K., I’ll bite.” Cabrera said earlier in the week that he would not be intimidated by playing in front of the large, boisterous crowds that follow Woods. On the first hole, he did not handle the commotion well. He drove into the left rough, but Woods drove even farther left, his ball landing in front of a merchandise tent.
Woods put his second shot in a greenside bunker, after which photographers and fans scurried for position. Photographers were trying to get back inside the ropes and fans were trying to hold their ground in a scrum that looked like the Holland Tunnel entrance at rush hour.
A policeman was trying in vain to get people to stand still while a few yards away Cabrera stood over his ball. Instead of backing off the shot, he hit the shot and struck it poorly, then looked back and glared at the crowd.
His ball landed well in front of the green, leading to a bogey. Woods saved par, and Harrington, who was on the green in two, three-putted for bogey.
When the group arrived at the second green, it was met by six volunteers with squeegees. They dried the green while the players were reading their putts, then took more swipes at the green between putts.
It was Cabrera, though, who steadied himself while Woods and Harrington struggled. Harrington fell to four-over par by the fifth hole, where Woods made double-bogey after missing the fairway with his drive, hitting into a bunker and missing a 15-foot putt for bogey. That put him at two over.
Woods birdied No. 6 with a 25-foot putt to get one of those strokes back.
Course officials had adjusted the course setup in the morning to account for the weather, moving up the tees on four holes — Nos. 7, 9, 10 and 12 — because the ball would not roll at all on the wet course.
“We have two to four people at every green using squeegees, sometimes between every putt,” Jim Hyler, vice president of the United States Golf Association and chairman of the championship committee, said before play was suspended. “The issue we’re going to have is the 18th green. If we weren’t working on it, it might be a pond right now. We’re just watching the weather to see how bad it gets. So far we’re O.K. The golf course is draining well except in a few spots, like 18 and hole No. 2. There’s no lightning on the radar.”
The forecast currently predicts steady rain all day, with up to an inch of rain total. The temperature is not expected to top 65 degrees.
“We’ve also adjusted where we considered putting certain hole locations,” Hyler said. “We had to choose spots that are less risky in terms of water buildup. We put holes away from the green locations where water might build up.”
Friday’s weather is expected to be dry but cloudy, with temperatures reaching the mid-70s.Source By:www.nytimes.com
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