The Booz Allen Classic will not go down without a fight. On a second straight day of thunderstorms and heavy rain, runaway leader Ben Curtis was able to complete only five of his remaining seven holes and must return to the Tournament Players Club at Avenel Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. to wrap up his second career victory.
Curtis will join five others who have yet to finish. They will put an appropriately belated end to a star-crossed tournament set to move to the fall next year, or perhaps off the schedule entirely. It is the third time in six years the Booz Allen has failed to end on time. Even the gods seemingly have conspired against the success of this event.
The last PGA Tour event to end on a Tuesday was the Joe Garagiola Tucson Open in 1980.
Monday was all about rain delays. Play was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m., but was pushed back three times to 11:15 a.m., when coincidentally it began to rain. Moments after an air horn sounded to begin play, another air horn went off, sending players back to cover after hitting just one, or if they were lucky, two shots.
An hour later, play resumed under sunny skies. It stayed that way for an hour before another storm gathered. With Curtis on the 17th hole, waiting to hit from a greenside bunker, the skies opened again. Play finally was suspended for the day at 5:11 p.m.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said 26-year PGA Tour official Mark Russell of the 9-plus inches of rain that has fallen at Avenel the last two days. “We have about 20 minutes of golf left and we just couldn’t get it done today.”
On a day when admission was free, a few hundred spectators got little more than they paid for. When Curtis made a four-foot putt at No. 16 for his 25th birdie of the tournament, about 50 fans circled the green. The PGA announced that fans will not be permitted on the course today to watch the completion of the tournament.
The only interruption of Curtis’ brilliance in this tournament has come via weather. Two weather suspensions at the same hole helped coax Curtis’ lone double bogey. At No. 12 on Sunday evening, Curtis hit his approach shot into the water moments before an approaching thunderstorm halted play. Monday morning he chipped to the same green before another delay. On Monday afternoon he two-putted for his 6.
“I’ve never seen it rain so hard,” said the 29-year-old Ohio native. “Three inches in three hours, that’s insane. On 18 there was a lake in the middle of the green. I saw 10, 11, and 12, all the debris. It just shows you how powerful the weather is.”
Curtis is pursuing history. At 22-under-par, he is one better than the tournament record of 21-under. His seven-stroke lead is tied for the tournament record.
The last player to have sole possession of the lead after every round in this tournament was Greg Norman in 1984.
Curtis is bidding for his first victory since winning the British Open at Royal St. George’s in 2003.
“You wait three years,” said Curtis. “So I guess I can wait another day.”
Leaderboard
SCORE THRU
1. Ben Curtis -22 16
2. Steve Stricker -15 16
2. Billy Andrade -15 F
2. Nick O’Hern -15 17
2. Padraig Harrington -15 F
6. Robert Allenby -14 17
6. Ben Crane -14 F
6. Jeff Gove -14 F
9. Brett Quigley -13 16
9. Daniel Chopra -13 17
11. Jose Coceres -11 F
11. Michael Allen -11 F
13. Kenny Perry -10 F
13. Shigeki Maruyama -10 F
13. Jerry Kelly -10 F
13. Jonathan Byrd -10 F
13. Heath Slocum -10 F
13. Steve Flesch -10 F
13. Grant Waite -10 F
13. Jonathan Kaye -10 F
