The PGA Tour and anyone who can look at a weather map knew what was coming and knew late Saturday that there would be no Sunday finale at the Northern Trust.
There was an uninvited guest sweeping across Liberty National, Manhattan and much of the northeast on Sunday — creating some havoc with high winds, lots of rain and some power outages, just to make things interesting.
At the Northern Trust, things were lined up for an interesting finish with mullet-sporting Cameron Smith and burly, COVID-conquering Jon Rahm deadlocked at the top of the leaderboard at 16-under par through 54 holes.
Smith was the Saturday Sensation. He went completely nuts and turned on the 59-Watch, blitzing Liberty National’s front nine with six birdies. He didn’t stop there. He birdied 10, 13 and 14 to get to nine-under for the day. He arrived at the 16th needing three closing birdies for 59. He took care of business at 16 and 17 — getting to 11-under and setting the table for a dramatic 18th hole. He hit a perfect drive, had just 139 in and stuck his approach just inside 12 feet with a great look for the 59.
But as things work out, after making just about everything he looked at all day, the 11-something feet were too much and Smith had to “settle” for an 11-under par 60 that took him to the top of the scoreboard.
Rahm, the 54-hole leader at 12-under, poured in four front-nine birdies then another at the par three 11th took him to 17-under par. The world’s No. 1 was cruising and 18-under looked like a sure thing after a perfect drive at the par five 13th. With just 222 in, Rahm hit four-iron and it sounded solid. Disbelief struck quickly when the ball came up a half-yard short and in the water fronting the green. Rahm pull-hooked his fourth into some thick stuff left of the green and by time he walked off, took a double-bogey seven that squashed his momentum.
Another stunning sequence of events hit Rahm at the par four 16, a reachable par four, just 308 yards. Rahm was pin high left but in another testy lie, he went for the flop shot and threw it too far onto the green and it made its way all the way into the water guarding the right side of the green. He walked off that green with bogey and lost three shots on holes where he minimally should have added two more to his lead.
Despite those gaffs, Rahm signed for 67 and was at the top with Smith at 16-under, a shot clear of rising South African star Erik Van Rooyen who shot one of three 62s on Saturday.
Justin Thomas and Tony Finau were two shots off the lead at 14-under.
After the round Saturday, the Tour acted quickly, calling off Sunday and set a goal to play on Monday.
And Monday is a crap-shoot at best. Rain was expected to linger in the Jersey City/New York area into Monday.
The Tour is hoping for a window to try and get play started. If half the field can finish the fourth round, the finish would move to Tuesday. If less than half he field finished, then the fourth round would be called off and the tournament shortened to 54-holes according to PGA Tour policy. But on Monday, The Sheriff Of Notthingham (aka Tour commish Jay Monahan) stepped in and decreed there WILL BE 72 holes played, even if the final round has to be pushed to Tuesday.
The final round was scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. start with threesomes going off both the 10th and first tee but the start was delayed until 11:30 a.m. Final round action will be telecast on the Golf Channel.
But with rain still in the forecast, it’s still up in the air, a total wait-and-see what happens with the playing conditions. Could well be a Tuesday finish, as decreed by The Sheriff!
Rod Pampling Takes Boeing Classic, Shoots 66 on Sunday:
Aussie Rod Pampling took home his first Champions Tour win Sunday at the Boeing Classic but he had to dodge a couple of cannonballs at the end.
Pampling had long finished his round — he posted a six-under par 66 and was in at 12-under par with Jim Furyk and Woody Austin in the final group at 11-under par and the short par five 18th (484 yards) at Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club in front of them.
It was easily reachable in two by both but things turned in Pampling’s favor when Austin’s second found an awkward lie in a greenside bunker and Furyk’s found another bunker that left him without much green to work with. Austin left his first attempt in the sand, got his second out and eventually made bogey and fell back to 10-under. As for Furyk, the best he could do was a blast that finally stopped 18 feet from the hole. Furyk’s birdie bid narrowly missed and Pampling, warming up on the practice range, had his first win on the senior circuit.
“It’s fantastic,” Pampling said. “You look at all the Hall of Famers are just phenomenal out here. There’s so many and they still play really good golf, which people think they don’t, but I’ll tell you what, they play so good. It’s just not quite as far off the tee anymore, but everything else is still really good. To get a win you’ve got to play good and thankfully I did today.”
Furyk’s final round 70 tied him for second with Billy Mayfair (69) and Tim Heron (67). Austin finished tied for fifth with Alex Cjeka (66).
Greyson Sigg Captures Boise Open In Shocking Turn Of Events:
Greyson Sigg looked like he was prepared for a nice runner-up finish Sunday at the Boise Open but a stunning turn of events gave him an unexpected victory.
Sigg was playing with tournament leader Aaron Rai, who was 20-under par and standing in the middle of the fairway on the 18th hole at Hillcrest Country Club. Rai had just 104 yards for his second shot on the 385-yard finishing hole. Rai’s wedge sailed just over the back of the green, leaving him a 25-foot chip that didn’t seem out of the ordinary, he even had a nice lie for his third.
Sigg went long as well but required a ruling for his drop away from the spectator stands. It took about 10 minutes but it must have created some nerves in Rai. Sigg’s third left him a tap-in par then he watched as Rai clanked his third, sending it sailing off the green to the front of the putting surface. His fourth stopped nine feet above the hole and he missed, taking double-bogey and dropping from 20-under back to 18.
Greyson Sigg already earned his PGA Tour card with his top 25 finish on the regular Korn Ferry Tour season but he improved his class standing with the win.
It was the first stop in the three-event Korn Ferry finals where the top 25 for the three events will earn Tour playing privileges. Players who already earned their card, like Sigg, can improve their standing in the class to assure more PGA Tour starts.
Sigg, a former University of Georgia golfer, shot a final round 65.
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