Due to the adverse weather forecast for Saturday afternoon, the organisers of the Portugal Masters have agreed to begin the third round at 8am with a ‘shotgun start’.
Heavy rain, high winds and even possible thunderstorms are predicted to arrive in Vilamoura from Saturday lunchtime, giving organisers no option other than to bring forward the tee times and start all players at the same time.
The only other time there has been a shotgun start during an official European Tour event was the final round of the 1994 Czech Open.
José María Zamora, Tournament Director of the Portugal Masters, said: “On Saturday morning we are expecting some very heavy rain from one o’clock onwards, so the only option to try to get the third round completed will be to have a shotgun start.
“At this moment in time, the forecast for Sunday is not looking great either. But our first priority is to try to get the third round completed. Then if we get lucky, there’s a chance we can play the fourth round on Sunday.
“It’s a real shame, because the weather so far this week has been fantastic. It’s so hot and sunny out there today, we’ve got thousands of people following the golf. We were also very unfortunate last year with the cancellation of the last two rounds because of the weather, but hopefully we can get at least three rounds done this year.
“We’re going to change the preparation of the golf course for the third round. As well as the rain we’re also expecting 30-40 miles per hour winds, so we’ll not be cutting the greens. We will also move some of the tees forward to make the course more playable, because we’re expecting a really tough day.”
