Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson climbed within two shots of overnight leader Lorena Ochoa at the LPGA Tour Championship on Friday as rain wreaked havoc on the second round.
Rain drenched the Houstonian Golf and Country Club before dawn and the start of the second round was pushed back six hours.
A couple of hours after play began, light rain began to fall and darkness stopped play before Ochoa, who led the first round with a 66, even made it to the first tee.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was also stuck in the clubhouse on her overnight score of three-under. Her compatriot Amy Hung was tied 85th on four-over and playing the 15th when play was halted. Hung looks like she will miss the cut when the second round is completed, while fellow Taiwanese Candie Kung withdrew after a terrible first round on Thursday.
Gustafson, who carded a first-round 70, was four-under for the tournament through 11 holes on Friday when play was halted.
The weekend forecast is mostly favorable and officials were hoping to finish the season-ending event on today.
Ochoa, winner of the Player of the Year award the past three years, is battling South Korean Jiyai Shin for the honor this year.
Shin, already the Rookie of the Year, came into the tournament leading Ochoa in the Player of the Year race by a slim margin. Shin carded a 70 on Thursday and, like Ochoa, didn’t get a chance to start her second round on Friday. No one finished the second round.
Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson, Juli Inkster and Wendy Ward were all three-under on the course.
The players were allowed to lift, clean and place because of the wet conditions.
“The greens were really wet out there,” Inkster said. “I thought they left us out there too long, but that’s just my opinion. I played good, but I usually do in wet conditions.”
Doug Brecht, the LPGA Tour vice president of rules and competition, said it was fortunate the second round started at all.
“We’re pretty lucky right now in that a big storm was heading our way and we didn’t think we were going to get to play as long as we’re playing,” Brecht said. “Like most storms that have headed here, it broke up before it got to us and was not nearly as strong or severe.”
Brecht admitted tournament officials would need “a little bit of luck” to finish 72 holes by this evening.
More rain was expected overnight and into yesterday morning, and if a high number of players make the cut — the top 70 and those tied will move on — that will push back the tee times for the last groups.
“We’ve got a couple of other issues, we’ll see how they pan out,” Brecht said.
Because of the tournament’s importance, the LPGA wants to avoid reducing the tournament to 54 holes.
In addition to the Player of the Year battle, Ochoa and Shin are virtually even in the battle for the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average.
Other players are looking for good performances to crack the top 80 on the money list and avoid qualifying school.
“There are a ton of things riding on this tournament,” Brecht said. “We are committed to playing 72 holes.”
Shin said she used the spare time to practice, when the weather allowed.
“There isn’t much you can do, but practice and get ready,” she said. “I haven’t really had much practice with waiting out rain delays.”
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