Mother Nature obviously isn’t a big fan of two-man team play.
She struck early and often Thursday at the TPC Louisiana and left the grounds unplayable for seven hours.
That was the length of the rain delay at the Zurich Classic. The horn sounded early — 9:41 a.m. New Orleans time and hopefully most of the field had something better to do.
Those heavy thunderstorms swept the area for most of the day, forcing a pair of play delays. As a result, only half of the 80-team field was able to compete, with only 13 teams completing 18 holes in the four-ball competition.
Two really lucky guys were Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings. Mullinax, who played well last week at Hilton Head, sank a 25-foot putt on the ninth green, the team’s final hole of the day to get him and Stallings in the house with an 11-under par round of 61.
“It was kind of an odd day,” Stallings said. “We played golf like the Japanese. Play nine, take a break, come back, play another nine. To play 18 holes, if you told us that at the beginning of the day, we’d have obviously taken it.”
As good as their round was, they finished a shot ahead of Martin Laird and Nick Taylor, two more lucky fellas who turned in a 62.
Joel Dahmen and Bradon Harkins got on the board early, they were five-under through their first nine when the first delay hit. they’d finish with 63 and were joined by Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley.
Brooks Koepka, the highest-ranked player in the field, managed to shoot five-under (67) with younger brother Chase.
First round play will resume Friday morning, weather permitting. The second round may not finish until Saturday morning at best.
