The torrential rain which has blighted southern California over the past two weeks – claimed another victim when the scheduled first day’s play in the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play was postponed.
The 32 first round matches were scheduled to have taken place on Wednesday February 23 but, with the majority of the course at La Costa Resort & Spa still largely under water, tournament officials took the decision, early on Tuesday afternoon, to postpone all play for following day, with the matches now scheduled for Thursday February 24.
Looking ahead, it will mean that the both the second round and the third round will be played on Friday, the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be contested on Saturday, and the 36 hole final, along with the 18 hole third and fourth place play-off, will be held, as originally scheduled, on Sunday February 27.
Last week on the US PGA Tour at nearby Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, the rain saw the Nissan Open – eventually won by European Tour Member Adam Scott – manage only 36 holes over five days, Scott eventually winning at the first play-off hole over Chad Campbell.
It is the second year running that the WGC – Accenture Match Play has lost an entire day’s play. Last year it was Thursday which was sunk, leaving the tournament to pan out the way it is planned to for this year, ie 36 holes a day from Friday until Sunday.
Announcing the postponement, Tournament Director Mark Russell, said: “After looking at the golf course and checking the weather report, the committee has decided to cancel golf for tomorrow and give the course a chance to drain a little, and see if we can give them a better golf course to play on Thursday.
“Tyler Dennis, one of our Rules Officials who was at the Riviera Country Club last week, said that that looked like a kiddies pool compared to what we have here. But it has gotten a lot better and we think it is going to get a lot better.
“We are scheduled to get some rain this afternoon but, after tomorrow morning, the weather forecast is a lot better. So with that in mind, the committee decided that we would not play tomorrow and give the golf course a chance to recover.”
