Saturday, May 27, 2000
Once again, Memorial braces
for bad weather
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) - The Memorial Tournament
had perfect weather all four rounds in 1999 and the first two
rounds this year.
That streak is about to end.
With a large storm front moving into the
area Saturday afternoon, tournament officials decided to send
out the field in threesomes off both tees. Normally, they play
in twosomes and start at No. 1.
Tee times, originally set for 8:30 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m., are now scheduled from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m.
Tournament founder and host Jack Nicklaus
said he agreed with the changes.
"The tour came to me this morning and
asked me, 'We've got some weather on the way, would you object?'
And I said, no, I didn't have any objection," he said.
Earlier this year, the PGA Tour followed
a similar procedure to avoid a storm in the Honda Classic.
"That's been sort of a fairly common
practice the last year or two on the tour, where they've had weather
conditions coming in and they've changed the Saturday times or
the Sunday times to get the round in," Nicklaus said. "I
think that's probably very prudent."
For the most part, the players weren't too
concerned about the changes having any impact on the tournament.
After all, the Memorial Tournament and spring rains are inseparable.
The tournament has had 36 suspensions, delays
or cancellations due to the weather in its first 24 years.
Justin Leonard said he wasn't too surprised
by the announcement.
"We expect it here," he said.
"I'm not a weatherman. I just show up when they tell me to."
Second-round leader and defending champion
Tiger Woods said, "That's fine. It normally rains here anyway.
Hopefully it won't be too long of a day."
---
PINBALL: Mark Brooks and Carlos Franco had
already hit their shots to the green on the par-4 17th hole. Then
John Daly let fly with his wedge from 140 yards.
The towering shot made a direct hit on Brooks'
ball, which was about 15 feet behind the pin. Daly's ball then
ricocheted to the right corner of the green, with Brooks' ball
rolling all the way to the left side of the green.
As the rules specify, a tour official placed
Brooks' ball back as near as possible to where it was before being
struck, while Daly had to play from where his ball ended up -
about 60 feet away instead of around 15 feet. Both two-putted
for par.
Daly finished with an even-par 72 to miss
the cut. Brooks had a 69 that left him at 3-under. Both declined
to be interviewed as they left the course.
Franco said, "It was very unlucky.
... I've never seen that before."
---
IN THE FLESCH: Steve Flesch used a 9 iron
to ace the 155-yard 12th hole on his way to a 68 that allowed
him to barely make the cut at 4-over 148.
He had hit a 7-iron from almost the same
distance a day earlier. This time there was no indecision.
"It was just the perfect iron as long
as I hit it solid," he said after his eighth career ace.
Playing partner Fuzzy Zoeller said, "It
was a beautiful shot, absolutely gorgeous. It hit right in front
of the hole and just went - bloop. Matter of fact, when he hit
it I couldn't get it out of my mouth fast enough. It was right
in there."
The ace came before plenty of appreciative
fans in the gallery. Flesch, born in Cincinnati and now living
just across the border in Kentucky, had some 40 friends and family
members following him around the course.
---
MRS. NICKLAUS: Barbara Nicklaus, wife of
Jack and mother of Gary, followed both around the course in the
first round. Late in Jack's afternoon round, however, she complained
of back pain and was taken to the tournament's first-aid tent.
Gary confirmed that his mother was taken
to a local hospital Thursday night and given a spinal CAT scan.
The two hospitals where she most likely was treated declined to
provide information at the request of the Nicklaus family.
"She just had back pain and the doctor
was concerned about it and took her down and they determined it
was kidney stones," Gary said after shooting a 68 in the
second round.
Her husband shot a 73 and then was asked
about his wife's condition. "Barbara's fine," he said.
---
DIVOTS: Vijay Singh on what he's faced since
winning the Masters: "Wherever I go, there's a lot of signing
to do. And a lot of Augusta flags. I don't know how many I've
signed, but it's really kind of a non-ending thing." ...
Ernie Els shot an 8-under 64 on his daughter Samantha's first
birthday. ... Fuzzy Zoeller shot a 43 on the back side and a 32
on the front in the second round. Asked how many putts he took
on the front, he said, "Good God, not many." He actually
had 12, then took 18 on the second nine holes. ... Greg Norman
was ranked as the 88th richest person in Australia and the country's
wealthiest athlete with more than $150 million by a business publication
Down Under. Norman's response? "They don't know what they
hell is going on. All my stuff's private, so how do they know?"
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