Final round suspended
A Monday finish after storms drench wet course
HOUSTON — The latest U.S. Women’s Open on the calendar will last one more day because of relentless rain that drenched Champions Golf Club and forced the USGA to suspend the final round until Monday. Hinako Shibuno of Japan, who had a one-shot lead as she goes for a second major, never teed off.
The USGA moved up tee times as early as possible Sunday because of the forecast, and the final round was just over an hour old when thunderstorms in the area caused play to be stopped. It never resumed, with about three-quarters of an inch of rain falling before there was no point in trying to restart.
The turf in the December climate doesn’t drain as quickly. Plus, heavy rain soaked the course Friday after the second round. There was standing water across Champions even during spells when the rain subsided.
The U.S. Women’s Open was postponed from early June because of the COVID-19 pandemic.It will be the first
Monday finish for the U.S. Women’s Open since So Yeon Ryu won at The Broadmoor in Colorado in 2011.
Shibuno won the Women’s British Open last year in her major championship debut — and her first tournament outside Japan — and is bidding to become the third woman to win two majors the first time playing them. Se Ri Pak was the most recent in 1998 at the LPGA Championship and U.S. Women’s Open.
NOTE — Amy Olson, in the final group of this Open as she goes for her first victory, now is coping with heartache over the sudden death of her father-in-law in North Dakota, Golfweek reported Sunday night. The LPGA Tour confirmed to Golfweek on Olson’s behalf that Lee Olson died Sunday night. Olson’s husband, Grant, is the linebackers coach at North Dakota State. Grant Olson returned to North Dakota to be with his mother and brother.