Ogilvie, Garcia lead at rainy Bay Hill
Updated: March 17, 2005, 6:08 PM ET
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Rain halted play in the Bay Hill Invitational after only three hours Thursday, still enough time for Tiger Woods to hit a shot that made fans nearly drop their umbrellas in utter amazement.
He finally looked like them.
With great anticipation over the threesome of Woods, Ernie Els and U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, the world's No. 1 player led off on the first tee by taking a 6-inch divot with a 3-wood that was lucky to reach the fairway.
"I've never done that before," Woods said of his 198-yard drive.
As for a PGA Tour event suspended by weather? Seems like that happens every week.
Nearly two inches of rain saturated Bay Hill Club & Lodge, causing the sixth weather-related suspension in 12 events on the PGA Tour this year.
"We're getting used to it," said Sergio Garcia, who was 3 under through eight holes when play was halted.
Joe Ogilvie, who lost in a three-man playoff at the Honda Classic last week, also was at 3 under through 13 holes, the most anyone played. The first round was scheduled to resume at 7:15 a.m. Friday.
Woods managed to make par after that whopping tee shot on No. 1 and was 2 under through eight holes. Els bogeyed his first two holes and was 1 over, while Goosen hit a tee shot out of bounds on No. 4 and was at 2 over.
The No. 1 ranking is up for grabs at Bay Hill among Woods, Els and Vijay Singh. Three of the top five players in the world ranking are in the same group for the first two rounds, although they hardly looked like world-class players.
Especially Woods.
The last time he used that new 3-wood in competition, he caught it a little thin on the 12th hole at Doral and still carried it nearly 300 yards to set up an eagle that led to his victory over Phil Mickelson two weeks ago in Miami.
This one looked as if it went 300 yards into the clouds.
"I didn't know Retief and I intimidated him like that?" Els said with a laugh.
Woods normally has an 8-iron into the green, but his yardage was 251 yards to the flag. The shot required a 3-wood to reach the green, but pride got in the way.
"I just couldn't," Woods said. "I managed to slap a 2-iron down there in the bunker and got up-and-down."
The rest of the round improved markedly.
Woods hit a 9-iron into 15 feet for birdie on No. 3, then hit a 3-iron on the par-5 sixth that cleared the water with about a yard to spare, setting up an easy birdie.
The delay came at perfect time for Els.
The Big Easy is a little fatigued, having spent the last two weeks winning in the Middle East. But Els also said he is having a problem with his hip flexor, causing pain as he starts his downswing.
"It must have been all that walking in the sand," he said of his two victories in the Dubai Desert Classic and the Qatar Masters. "It was very sore. If I can only feel 40 percent of the pain, I'll be fine."
Singh was among the late starters, so he won't even hit his first shot until mid-morning, and likely will play at least 27 holes if the weather forecast is accurate.
A faulty forecast might have left tour officials in a predicament.
PGA Tour tournament director Mark Russell said officials expected about a half-inch of rain, and they figured Bay Hill could handle that much rain. They declined to let players lift, clean and place the balls in the fairway, and now the entire round must be completed under those guidelines.
"We wanted to play some real golf and play the ball down. That's what we did," Russell said.
Now, the tour is in a situation it knows all too well. Russell said the tournament should still end on Sunday evening, although the 36-hole cut won't be until Saturday afternoon, and the third round likely won't end until Sunday morning.
Already this year, the Nissan Open was cut short by 36 holes because of rain, leaving Adam Scott as an unofficial winner in a playoff over Chad Campbell. The first day of the Match Play Championship was completely washed out.
In Phoenix, the first round was suspended by high wind. In Torrey Pines, fog delays meant the leaders had to play 33 holes on Sunday. Even at Kapalua, it rained so hard that the final round was delayed four hours.
It even rained early in the second round at Doral, although that didn't halt play.
"It's rained at every event I've played," Woods said. "As soon as I quit playing the tour, it won't rain."
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