For the third consecutive day, the USGA couldn't finish what it started as dangerous weather checked into The Broadmoor resort just as the second round ended, forcing yet another closure of the East Course. That guaranteed that none of the first three rounds of this tournament will have ended on the day it began. Hopefully, the final one will.With a manageable 72 players having made the cut, 36 holes can be played on Sunday if needed - assuming of course that the thunderstorms that have battered this place since Tuesday stay away. In 2006, the U.S. Women's Open at Newport CC lost all of Thursday to a fog that rolled in and refused to leave. Not one shot was hit that day, yet it ended on time -- sort of.
Only 68 people made the cut at Newport and two rounds were easily played
on Sunday. But, in a cruel joke by the golf gods, Annika Sorenstam and
Pat Hurst ended tied and had an 18-hole playoff the next day, won by
Sorenstam. That was the playoff that ended the 18-hole format for the
women. Now, the outcome is decided by a three-hole playoff immediately
after 72 holes are completed.
But the question now is when, exactly, 72 holes will be completed. Going into Saturday, more than eight hours of play had already been lost to weather delays. When the horn sounded at 2:21 p.m. to evacuate the course, the clock started running on yet another delay. Fortunately, the third round began at 3:15, sending the players off in threesomes instead of twosomes and using both the No. 1 and No. 10 tee instead of only No. 1, as is the tradition on the weekend of the U.S. Open.
The stop-and-start nature of the tournament made it really difficult to get any feel for the event, or to allow any drama to build. We came to Colorado wondering if Yani Tseng would be able to complete the career Grand Slam and instead ended up wondering if the tournament would end before the 22-year-old from Taiwan turned 23.
Inertia is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. As Newton tells us - Sir Isaac, not Wayne - a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Right now, the LPGA - the tour whose members comprise the largest single group in this American national championship - is caught in an outgoing tide of back luck.
Trying to get back to the 30-tournament level - there are currently 24 - the tour needs as much exposure for its vibrant product as possible. Tseng has the potential to be a truly dominant golfer. In Paula Creamer, Ai Miyazato, Stacy Lewis and the fresh face of Ryann O'Toole, the tour has many compelling stories to tell - and all of them are on the leader board here.
The beauty of The Broadmoor and the challenge of the East Course are a perfect backdrop against which to play the U.S. Women's Open. The leaderboard - not even Tseng, who was nine strokes back going into the final two rounds was out of the tournament - holds the promise of an exciting Sunday afternoon. But with thunderstorms in the forecast yet again, the potential for that drama to be played out on a Monday remains. But that is another episode of Sirak Storms Stories.
(Photo by Getty Images)
--Ron Sirak
But the question now is when, exactly, 72 holes will be completed. Going into Saturday, more than eight hours of play had already been lost to weather delays. When the horn sounded at 2:21 p.m. to evacuate the course, the clock started running on yet another delay. Fortunately, the third round began at 3:15, sending the players off in threesomes instead of twosomes and using both the No. 1 and No. 10 tee instead of only No. 1, as is the tradition on the weekend of the U.S. Open.
The stop-and-start nature of the tournament made it really difficult to get any feel for the event, or to allow any drama to build. We came to Colorado wondering if Yani Tseng would be able to complete the career Grand Slam and instead ended up wondering if the tournament would end before the 22-year-old from Taiwan turned 23.
Inertia is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. As Newton tells us - Sir Isaac, not Wayne - a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Right now, the LPGA - the tour whose members comprise the largest single group in this American national championship - is caught in an outgoing tide of back luck.
Trying to get back to the 30-tournament level - there are currently 24 - the tour needs as much exposure for its vibrant product as possible. Tseng has the potential to be a truly dominant golfer. In Paula Creamer, Ai Miyazato, Stacy Lewis and the fresh face of Ryann O'Toole, the tour has many compelling stories to tell - and all of them are on the leader board here.
The beauty of The Broadmoor and the challenge of the East Course are a perfect backdrop against which to play the U.S. Women's Open. The leaderboard - not even Tseng, who was nine strokes back going into the final two rounds was out of the tournament - holds the promise of an exciting Sunday afternoon. But with thunderstorms in the forecast yet again, the potential for that drama to be played out on a Monday remains. But that is another episode of Sirak Storms Stories.
(Photo by Getty Images)
--Ron Sirak
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