Players brace for marathon Sunday after rain hits hard at Zurich
By Dave Lagarde, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AVONDALE, La. -- Stormy weather played a cruel joke Saturday on the $6.2 million Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana.
There will be an excruciatingly long anything-can-happen day Sunday before the 2008 champion is crowned. And considering who is where on a jam-packed leaderboard, there's more than a $1 million first-place check on the line for a slew of contenders, many of whom are seeking their first PGA TOUR victory or a berth in the 2008 Masters, which begins April 7.
Storms packing lightning rolled into the New Orleans area at about 1:30 CT, forcing a suspension of play. And while players were put back in position approximately two hours later, another string of electricity laden storm cells finally forced play to be postponed until Sunday at 6:25 p.m.
Play will resume at 7:20 a.m. CT, with four players -- second-round leader Briny Baird, Woody Austin, Peter Lonard and Nationwide Tour graduate Nicholas Thompson -- tied at the top at eight under par. Five others -- John Senden, Andres Romero, 2005 Zurich champion Tim Petrovic, Steve Elkington and John Merrick -- are one shot back at seven under. Another 12 players are at six under.
Only three players among the top 21 on the leader board -- Senden (66), Daniel Chopra and Jonathan Byrd who are six under -- completed the third round. Meanwhile Baird, who is seeking his first PGA TOUR victory, seems to have drawn the shortest straw. He has 33 grueling holes in front of him Sunday.
"Some guys are going to get a little advantage from this,'' said Petrovic, who scored his only TOUR victory here under an eerily similar set of circumstances. "When I woke up that Sunday morning, I was six shots behind. The deal is, you have to take it for what it is.''
Austin, who was riding a huge wave of momentum when the horn signaling the suspension sounded, best summed up the jigsaw puzzle that was Saturday and what's long Sunday journey that's to follow.
"It's a really weird situation,'' he said, "It's hard to comprehend.''
So read the following paragraph slowly.
Players will remain in their same pairings Sunday, with fourth-round tee times set for the same times as Saturday. That means Brett Rumford, who was first off the first tee Saturday at 7:20 a.m. local time, will begin his fourth round at 7:20 while 46 players stranded Saturday begin plodding on in the third round.
"There have been many different scenarios and I think everybody has been caught in a tough situation,'' he said. But this is the first time I've ever come across something like this.''
The expressive Austin rolled his eyes. When asked who this favors, he did not hesitate with a reply.
"The guy who shot 66 today,'' he said referring to Senden, an Australian with one PGA TOUR victory on his portfolio. "He's going to be starting his fourth round (at 9:16) and Briny is only maybe through 10 holes of his third round.''
Regardless, there's that first-victory carrot dangling in front of Baird, Thompson, Romero and Merrick among the top nine. The same can be said for six of the 12 players at six under. Twelve of the first 21 also would garner invitations to the Masters with a win.
Petrovic, who played in the 2004 Masters, is among that dozen. The vibes he's feeling are nothing but positive. He harkened back to 2005, when he was forced to complete 22 holes on Sunday.
He has 21 to go Sunday.
"I'm sitting next to Woody and we're in a rain delay,'' he said. "That Sunday I was paired with Woody. My brother (Stephen) is here caddying. He's here again. I'm almost on the same hole, 16 instead of 15.''
Meanwhile Austin will do his best to recapture the magic that started on the par-3 ninth hole when his 7-iron tee shot came within inches of going into the hole for an ace. That started a run of three consecutive birdies that shot him to the top of the leader board. But he will be faced with a daunting task when he takes his first swing Sunday morning.
"My first shot is a 212-yard (approach) shot out of the 12th fairway,'' he said, laughing. "That's really conducive to the first swing of the day at 7:20.''
But it is what it is.
"No one ever accused the game of golf of being fair,'' said tournament director Arvin Ginn, who was responsible for the decision made Saturday. "But you try to do what's fair as best you can.''
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