AKE FOREST, Illinois, (Reuters) – Play was suspended for the day at the BMW Championship yesterday after torrential downpours left the course water-logged, with the final round scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. CT (1300 GMT) yesterday.
Twenty-two players in the field of 70 were yet to tee off after three-and-a-half hours of action had been wiped out earlier in the day and at 4 p.m. officials abandoned a further resumption as light rain kept the par-71 layout saturated.
Pools of water had formed on fairways and greens at Conway Farms Golf Club, forcing the penultimate FedExCup playoff event to go into a fifth day.
Tournament leader Jim Furyk and second-placed Steve Stricker are scheduled to tee off in the final pairing at 9:40 a.m. on Monday.
It will be the third unscheduled Monday finish on the PGA Tour this year, the most since 2010 when three tournaments spilled over into an extra day.
In all, 22 tournaments have been delayed by weather on the U.S. circuit this season, including the first three FedExCup playoff events.
Conditions are expected to be cloudy on Monday morning, with a slight chance of showers, with sunshine forecast for the afternoon.
Six players managed to complete their rounds before play was abandoned yesterday, including defending champion Rory McIlroy who fired a second successive three-under-par 68 to finish at seven-over 291, having languished stone last after 36 holes.
That marked the end of McIlroy’s 2013 PGA Tour campaign as he failed to qualify for the elite 30-man field for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, the final playoff event.
American Furyk, seeking his first PGA Tour victory since the Tour Championship in 2010 when he also landed FedExCup honours, was at 13-under 200 overnight after carding a two-under 69 in Saturday’s third round.
Stricker was a further stroke back in second, having soared into contention with a 64, ahead of fellow Americans Brandt Snedeker (71), at 11 under, and Zach Johnson (69), at 10 under.
American world number one Tiger Woods, still smarting after being docked two strokes for a rules violation during Friday’s second round, was a further shot back in fifth after returning a third-round 66.
