NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Heavy overnight rains once again soaked Arnomink Golf Club early Sunday, delaying the start of the final round.
Final-round tee times at the BMW Championship were originally scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. ET, as the PGA Tour hoped to get out ahead of wet weather that’s expected to continue for the next two days.
The final round now will not start before 3 p.m. ET – and that assumes it ever gets going.
“Obviously we’ve got kind of a mess out there,” said Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competitions. “As of right now, the golf course is unplayable.”
The Tour’s latest forecast calls for downpours through the day Sunday and more rain Monday. Whether Aronimink will be fit for play over the next two days remains unclear. The course took on 2 1/2 inches of rain Friday and Saturday and could get doused by up to three more inches Sunday and Monday.
White said that once the rain subsides, the maintenance staff would need at least two hours to prepare the course.
Justin Rose leads the tournament through 54 holes by one shot over Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. Players discussed a bevy of potential scenarios following the third round, includng a weather-shortened, 54-hole result that would already be determined.
The tournament can be extended to Tuesday if half the field finishes the final round. But if half the field can’t finish by Monday night, the 54-hole result will stand. White said that they’d never start a round on Monday thinking that they could not get half the field finished.
As if the weather wasn’t complicating matters enough, FedExCup points scenarios, the chase for Jim Furyk’s 12th and final Ryder Cup pick, and Rose’s possible ascent to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking will all be dictated by this week’s finish. Jordan Spieth is currently outside the FedExCup top 30, Xander Schauffele could convince Jim Furyk to add him to the U.S. team at the 11th hour, and Rose could move to No. 1 with a victory.
McIlroy said Saturday he hoped the Tour makes every effort to finish the tournament, while Schauffele added his hopes that “Mother Nature doesn’t screw us.”
“We do have a little window (Monday) from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” White said. “The sad part is it’s one hour at a time, and we’re trying our best to get guys out and get to play.”
