Monday, May 29, 2000
Rain slows Woods at Memorial
By Hunki Yun
The Orlando Sentinel
(KRT)
DUBLIN, Ohio-Tiger Woods knew even before
he got to the Muirfield Village Golf Club that he likely wouldn't
win the Memorial Tournament on Sunday.
But it wasn't because he was unsure about
his 6-stroke lead after 54 holes, his largest since the 1997 Masters,
when he led by nine shots going into the final round.
"Driving out to the course," Woods
said, "I saw the lightning and heard the thunder."
In addition to the lightning, nearly 2 inches
of rain fell on the course, flooding the fairways and greens and
washing out the sand from the bunkers. The unplayable conditions
postponed the final round until Monday, when play will resume
at 8 a.m.
Although Woods reached the course, he never
hit a shot. Nearly half the field hadn't teed off when play was
suspended at 11:15 a.m, when the first of two waves of storms
swept over the course.
"It's going to take hours of work to
restore the bunkers," said PGA Tour tournament director Ben
Nelson. Officials are expecting to resume play at 8 a.m. The forecast
is expected to improve.
Only the first twosome, Corey Pavin and
Don Pooley, completed 72 holes.
The Memorial is the third PGA Tour event
of the year that has had to be completed on Monday, and Woods
played a large role in the other two. He won the AT&T Pebble
Beach National Pro-Am with a final-round comeback, and pushed
Hal Sutton at the Players Championship before finishing second
by a shot.
Woods will try to make it two for three
in Monday finishes in a final round that should be little more
than mere formality. He has lost just two of 16 final-round leads.
Having been through so many delays, Woods
had no problems keeping himself occupied during the rain as he
and the other players hung out in the locker room.
"We ate a lot," Woods said. "Watched
a lot of TV. Listened to a lot of stories."
(c) 2000, The Orlando Sentinel
(Fla.).
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