Feb 20, 2005 3 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Heavy rain that flooded bunkers and covered the greens with thousands of worms forced officials to cancel golf Saturday in the Nissan Open, raising the possibility of the PGA Tour’s first 36-hole event in nearly nine years. “Our main goal is to get 36 holes in,” PGA Tour tournament director Mark Russell said.

Even that might be wishful thinking.

Some rain is in the forecast today, with more heavy showers expected on Monday. The Match Play Championship, a $7.5 million World Golf Championship, is scheduled to start Wednesday down the coast at La Costa.

This was the first washout on the PGA Tour since no golf was played in the second round of the Match Play Championship last year.

Russell said there is still slight hope for a 72-hole tournament, but even going to a Monday finish to get in 54 holes requires a break from the dreary skies over Sunset Boulevard.

“We’re at the mercy of the elements, and right now it has us on the ground,” Russell said.

Brian Davis of England has not hit a shot since he opened with a 65 for the first-round lead on Thursday.

Only half the 144-man field completed the second round Friday, with Chad Campbell at 9-under 133 and leading Robert Allenby by three shots at Riviera Country Club.

None of the others made it even halfway through the round Friday when play was suspended by darkness. They are to return at 7:30 a.m. Sunday to resume – or in the case of Davis, begin – the second round.

Kevin Sutherland birdied two of his first four holes and was at 6 under.

Tiger Woods can’t buy a break at Riviera. He finally got off to a good start at his hometown PGA Tour event – the only tour event he has played at least four times without winning – and it might not even count. Woods was at 5 under for the tournament with 14 holes left in his second round.

PGA Tour policy states that if a tournament is only 36 holes, the winner gets $864,000 toward the money list, but it would not count as an official victory. That means the winner would not get a two-year exemption on tour, or a spot in the winners-only field at Kapalua next year.

The last time a PGA Tour event went only 36 holes was the 1996 Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens, when Michael Bradley won in a five-way playoff.

Other 36-hole winners on tour include Brian Henninger at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic and Neal Lancaster in the Byron Nelson Championship, both in 1994. The Pebble Beach National Pro-Am only got in two rounds in 1996, and officials canceled the tournament because it was played over three courses.

Russell said it was too early to speculate what might happen if everyone only completed 18 holes and the weather did not allow for any more golf.

ACE Group Classic

NAPLES, Fla. – Mike McCullough shot a 3-under 69 to take a two-stroke lead over Hale Irwin and Mark James in The ACE Group Classic.

The 59-year-old McCullough, seeking his third Champions Tour victory, had a 9-under 135 total on the TwinEagles course. Irwin, the 50-and-over tour’s career victory leader with 41, shot a 70. James had a 68.

Curtis Strange, playing his first Champions Tour event, followed his opening 74 with a 71.

Jacob’s Creek Open

ADELAIDE, Australia – Australia’s Steve Bowditch shot an even-par 72 to take a three-stroke lead over long-hitting American Brent Schwarzrock after the third round of the Jacob’s Creek Open.

Bowditch had a 10-under 134 total at Royal Adelaide in the event co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and Australasian circuit. Schwarzrock shot a 70.