PGA Tour had to encounter adverse weather conditions once again. First, the Wyndham Championship was on the verge of cancellation. After a relatively hassle-free FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top 30 in the Tour have once again faced Mother Nature’s wrath. 

The first round of the BMW Championship was suspended at 3.33 PM local time (5.33 PM ET). A thunderstorm moved in around the area with the final four groups yet to finish their rounds. Nick Dunlap, Hideki Matsuyama, and Rory McIlroy were among the players who had to wait for the storm to subside. In fact, the Ulsterman was standing over his ball for a putt, when the horn blew due to a lightning strike nearby. 

Eventually, the Tour decided to resume the round at 6.45 PM local time (8.45 PM ET). Keegan Bradley currently leads the round at 6-under. Matsuyama, the winner of the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, is snapping at his heels at 5-under. 

The spectators, however, were left in the lurch. After the initial update from the PGA Tour Communications, there was no further information available for about two hours. When the Tour finally announced the resumption many voiced their frustration on social media.

PGA Tour’s communication mishandling leaves fans infuriated

Even though a thunderstorm raged in at Castle Pines, there is no update from the Tour’s official social media handle. From the fans’ comments, it appears that they would’ve preferred to know if there was any possibility of a resumption. Furthermore, they were also bothered by the fact there were no visuals from the venue. 

One disgruntled user simply wrote, “PGA non-communications at work.”  Some of them were okay with a postponement. However, they were angry that they had to scramble for information elsewhere. None of which were official sources. One of them tweeted, “It is not ok to have zero updates for the past 2 hours.”

There was indeed a two-hour gap between the first and second tweet from the PGA Tour Communications. When the second update came one user sarcastically tweeted “Love the part where you kept us updated.”

Even when the final update came about, it still missed a few crucial information. Fans were wondering if the round would be televised or not. One user commented, “It would be nice if you let us know if the resumed event was being televised and where. If not, let us know that too!” There, however, was no further update on this from the Tour’s communication department. “Can’t watch? What a joke,” a second user tweeted. 

It’s worth noting that the BMW Championship’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle offered important and timely updates, like the current status of shuttle services, parking lots, and multiple other facilities at Castle Pines, etc. Their latest tweet hints Friday round will start in time without any delay. However, the weather forecast spells scattered thunderstorms on Friday afternoon as well.