Bad Management or Unfortunate Timing: A Look into What Caused The Massive Delay at the 2023 BMW PGA Championship

Golf is a game that’s often affected by external factors. Quite often, a round may be delayed due to harsh weather or some other external factor that slows down the game. This is fairly common in the sport, seeing as how it’s played outdoors on courses, and usually play resumes the next day after the round is completed.

However, it is rare that two consecutive rounds of a tournament get suspended on their day to be resumed later. And surprisingly, that is exactly what has transpired at the ongoing BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, UK. Following a suspended first round on Thursday, the second round on Friday has now been suspended as well. While the event is set to resume on Saturday, it begs the big question: Is it just unfortunate circumstances or terrible planning by the management?

What is happening at the 2023 BMW PGA Championship?

On Friday morning, the second round of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship was suspended temporarily because of fog for more than an hour. The management suspended play at 7.12 AM and resumed it at 8.25 AM. The round was extended until 7.20 PM, when it was suspended overnight to be resumed on Saturday.

The first round experienced a similar hiccup on Thursday and resumed on Friday. While complaints and sighs were not too loud on day 1, the delay in the second round has caused players and fans heaps of disappointment. The effective play time of the second round was reportedly 5 and a half hours, and compared to the average of 4 to 5 hours per round, this was a significant setback.

In fact, as per Today Golfer’s recent tweet, when the likes of the highly anticipated group of Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, and Vktor Hovland reached the 18th hole, there were already three groups ahead of them awaiting their turn!

Reports claim that some players verbally expressed their disappointment at the lack of efficient management. This could probably be about the staff not making sure players don’t extend their time beyond reason. In such circumstances, even a few minutes of delay in each group’s play could have a domino effect on the whole round, and unfortunately, Wentworth has witnessed that firsthand.

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Fog wasn’t the only cause for the delay in the second round 

The morning fog could surely count as one factor in the delay. Another primary factor, as per popular opinion, seems to be that players take too long with their shots. A fan had tweeted about a player who took almost half an hour on one particular hole.

While the first round’s delay is understandable, as it was unprecedented, that’s not the case with the second round. With a part of the first round remaining to be played, many are under the impression that management should have accommodated the additional time as well as the factors that caused the delay during the first round!

Overall, the takeaway from the discussion is arguably that consecutive delays may just be avoidable if the organizer goes the extra mile to recognize the core issue, additionally account for the time loss, and work towards speeding up play. While this may be quite subjective, it certainly isn’t all that wrong.

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