Rain, wind wipe out play at Riviera

LOS ANGELES — Wind, rain and the snap of a large tree limb stopped play Friday in the second round of the Genesis Open.

Sam Saunders remained atop the leaderboard without ever hitting a shot Friday at Riviera.

Jhonattan Vegas joined him at 7-under par and was all too happy to wait until this morning — maybe — to complete his second round. The wind made it difficult to pick the right club. The rain made it difficult to gauge the speed on the greens.

But it was the crack of a eucalyptus tree that made PGA Tour officials sound the horn to get players — and spectators — off the course.

“We could have played a little bit more, but why? It’s going to get nothing but worse,” said Mark Russell, the PGA Tour’s vice-president of competition. “We wanted to get them out of there when the trees started snapping.”

No one was hurt, although Russell said he heard some spectators had to scramble to safety when the eucalyptus limb fell some 30 yards behind the third green.

It was tough on a few players, too, at least between the ears.

Hideki Matsuyama, who had a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 in the world this week with a victory, returned Friday morning to complete the first round and made three straight birdies for a 68. He likely will have to finish with three straight birdies today just to make the cut. Matsuyama was 6-over through 15 holes on his second round, and 3-over for the tournament.

Defending champion Bubba Watson hasn’t had much go his way this week, even when they do. He couldn’t decide on a club at No. 5 and came up well short of the green, only to chip in for a birdie. Standing on the tee at the par-3 sixth, with a bunker in the middle of the green and the pin left and to the back, Watson jokingly lamented, “The one time I don’t want to hit first.”

He still had two holes to play and was 8-over, virtually assured of missing the cut.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was the lone Canadian to start his second round. He played 14 holes and is 5-over for the event.