PGA Play Suspended

The final round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has been postponed until Monday after no play was possible on Sunday (February 15) because of strong winds and heavy rain. Weather permitting, the 68-man field will tee off from 0730 local (1530 GMT), split into threesomes off both tees on the Pebble Beach Golf Links. Long-hitting American Dustin Johnson will take a four-shot lead over Canadian Mike Weir into the final round, having surged ahead of the pack by firing a five-under-par 67 on Saturday. However, heavy rain is also expected on Monday and at least 50 percent of the players would have to complete the final round for it count, organisers said. Heavy rain and winds gusting up to 90 kph forced play to be abandoned on Sunday after the scheduled tee times for the final round had been twice put back by a total of six hours. A 40-foot Monterey pine tree was blown down across the third fairway while several camera towers and tents were toppled, forcing the greenkeeping staff to take swift action. It will be the first Monday finish at Pebble Beach since Tiger Woods triumphed here in 2000. Traditionally, the PGA Tour event founded in 1937 by entertainer Bing Crosby on California’s picturesque Monterey Peninsula has suffered at the hands of the golfing gods. There have been frequent interventions by rain, wind and fog over the years with the 1996 tournament cancelled after the second round. The inclement conditions came to be known as "Crosby weather".

Channel: MediaScrape Video Length: 0s Date Found: Tue, Feb 17 2009 4:09 PM Category: Sports Date Produced: Mon, Feb 16 2009 11:50 AM View Count: 5