PACIFIC PALISADES >> About five hours after players began gliding around Riviera Country Club on Friday at the Genesis Open, distracting drizzles turned into a diabolical downpour and bothersome breezes became whipping winds.
But it wasn’t until some sizeable rain-soaked eucalyptus tree branches finally started snapping off — most notably near the 15th tee box near the 17th green — that PGA Tour officials officially decided enough was enough.
At 12:18 p.m., play was suspended Friday, with the desire to restart at 7 a.m. Saturday.
The bottom line was that Friday wasn’t a complete washout, and, despite the forecast of more disruptive weather ahead, the thought that all 72 holes can be completed by sometime Sunday afternoon isn’t being dismissed.
If Riviera superintendent Matt Morton’s crew is able to start clearing debris as early as 4 a.m. Saturday, PGA Tour vice president of rules and competition Mark Russell said he thinks the second round can be finished by 2 p.m., the new pairings can be determined, and the third round can start shortly after that.
“We were extremely fortunate to get as far as we got (Friday) based on the forecast,” said a somewhat drenched Russell when he showed up at the media tent.
Aside from the tree branch on the 15th, another one fell on the third hole.
“Yeah, we could have played a little bit more (Friday) but why?” said Russell. “My thought, and the staff’s thought, was let’s get the spectators and the players out of here and somewhat safe and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Pre-tournament predictions were Thursday overnight rains leaving Friday mostly unplayable, but that didn’t quite happen. The 7 a.m. restart went as scheduled for those 48 players who were left on the course as darkness fell Thursday, and they were done by 8:37 a.m. Friday.
The second round started on the first and 10th tees at about 7:10 a.m., and 21 players even played through to the end before the horn sounded.
With the first round in the books, Sam Saunders kept his lead at 7-under-64 but never got a chance to go out for his 1:45 p.m., tee time, which has been rescheduled for 8:44 a.m. Saturday.
“It’s just unplayable and borderline unsafe with a tree branch going down,” Saunders said during a Golf Channel TV interview. “I wasn’t looking forward to getting out there. (Thursday) I mentally didn’t plan on playing (Friday) and I’m glad I prepared for it that way.”
The only notable movement on the leaderboard was Jhonattan Vegas shooting 31 on the front nine with four birdies Friday to pull even with Saunders.
Jason Kokrak, who led after the first two rounds of last year’s PGA event at Riviera and went on to finish tied for second, finished Thursday’s first round at 4-under 67 and is 2-under on his second round through 10 holes. The 6-under total is one behind Saunders and Vegas.
Cameron Percy shot even-par 71 to finish his second round and get into a six-way tie at 5-under that included Jordan Spieth, able to get in 16 holes of his second round.
“We knew it would be interesting today, and last week (at Pebble Beach, where he won) was a great prep for it because we played through conditions like this in the first round,” said Spieth. “So it’s just about trying to stay patient. Things aren’t going to always go your way on a day like today. Actually, rarely they’re going to go your way.”
Bubba Watson can speak to that. The defending champion all but secured an inevitable fate of missing the cut. He complete the first round at 3 over and, when play stopped Friday, he was 8 over. The cut last year was at even-par 142 and is projected to fall the same Saturday.
Hideki Matsuyama, with a chance to finish at No. 1 in the world if he wins this weekend, made three birdies in a row Friday morning to register a 68 for his first round, but he fell apart later Friday to go 6 over for 15 holes.
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