Unplayable course postpones BMW round
Spieth just outside of Playoffs’ Top 30 cutoff
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Hours of persistent and at times heavy rain Sunday turned venerable Aronimink Golf Club into an unplayable mess and forced the suspension of the fourth and final round of the BMW Championship, the third leg of the FedExCup Playoffs.
Now the question is whether another golf shot will be hit in the BMW.
Aronimink has been on the receiving end of a 1-2 H2O punch as more than
2 inches of rain fell on the course overnight before the third round and then another inch fell overnight heading into Sunday’s final round.
It was expected to continue raining well into Sunday night. Monday’s forecast is anything but bright, with more rain expected. Play is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. ET, with the last tee times going off at 9:20. Players will go off the first and 10th tees in groups of three.
“We’ve got kind of a mess out there,” said Slugger White, vice president of rules and competition for the PGA Tour. “As of right now, the golf course is unplayable. We had so much saturation. It’s like shoveling sand against the tide. It’s just unfortunate.”
Play was suspended for the day at
2 p.m. ET.
Per PGA Tour regulations, half the field must play 18 holes on Monday if there is to be a Tuesday finish. If half the field does not complete the final round or if there is no play at all, the tournament would become official after 54 holes.
That would mean Justin Rose would be declared the winner. He took a oneshot lead with a 6-under-par 64 in the third round. Rory McIlroy (63) and Xander Schauffele (67) are tied for second, with Tommy Fleetwood (62) and Rickie Fowler (65) tied for fourth two back.
Tiger Woods would start the final round five shots behind Rose after rounds of 62-70-66 left him at 12-under. Woods has been plagued this weekend by poor putting stats. His frustration reached a peak in the third round when one good putt after another simply would not fall.
Rose will become the No. 1 player in the world if he is declared the 54hole winner. He also could earn the No. 1 ranking if the tournament does finish 72 holes (he would need to win).
If there is no more play, Jordan Spieth would be on the wrong side of a tough break. Spieth is 31st in the FedExCup standings and only the top 30 will move on to The Tour Championship, the postseason finale.
Keegan Bradley, with a birdie on the 16th hole and two clutch pars coming in Saturday’s third round, bumped Spieth out of the top 30. Spieth, who won the FedExCup Playoffs in 2015, has never missed The Tour Championship since he joined the Tour in 2013.