PGA Tour Update: Darkness And Fog Spoils Puerto Rico Open Day 2; Round Delayed

The Puerto Rico Open has not been off to a great start. Since day one, the event has fallen prey to bad weather conditions. The PGA Tour even reported on Thursday that, due to the deteriorating weather conditions, the officials had to evacuate the players from the course for their safety. Once the harsh weather subsided, the golfers took to the course once more, but soon after, the round was stopped again due to the prevailing darkness.

Despite these hurdles, somehow the first round was brought to a close. But the event’s troubles are far from over. The 2024 Puerto Rico Open’s second round just hours ago met with the same fate as the first! The PGA Tour Communication took to X to announce the unfortunate news of a Friday suspension. “Due to darkness, round two of the Puerto Rico Open was suspended at 6:33 p.m. and will resume at 7 a.m. Saturday.”

With the second round now being pushed midway to Saturday morning, the third round too will be delayed slightly. The tee-off times, if all goes well, will begin at “approximately 8:20am” and go up to 1 p.m., as per the Tour’s latest update. Moreover, the pairing will be done in threesomes for the weekend rounds instead of pairs to save on time and avoid more delays.

It seems like from the get-go, the event has been plagued with issues. Surprisingly, the heavy fog and nasty weather on Day 1 were not even the beginning of these. Even before the event began, there were problems, one of the biggest being a sudden change in the field list!

went through several unexpected changes.

The 2024 Puerto Rico Open has been battling problem after problem

Since 2008, Puerto Rico has served as an alternate league on the PGA Tour. It was first associated with the WGC-Cadillac Championship and then the WGC-Dell Match Play. This year, the event is serving as an alternative to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This meant that the players on the field are already limited due to many playing in the signature event; however, this year they had a great turnout with many big names like 2X DP World Tour winner Robert MacIntyre and Danish star Rasmus Hojgaard as part of the 132-player field. However, that number was threatened to be reduced just days before the event began!

Read More: PGA Tour Update: Why Are There 2 Events This Week?

Two days before the commencement of the event, two pros, Jimmy Walker and Greg Chalmer, unexpectedly withdrew from the event. Interestingly, no reason was cited for their untimely exit either. With a last-minute drop, the event arguably could have started with an incomplete field; however, they managed to salvage the situation. Derek Ernst and Derek Lamely were brought in to replace the pros that left. Regardless, one can agree that it was not the most auspicious start.

And now, with the weather and suspensions adding to its problems, fans can only hope there’s no other unfortunate surprises in store for them! But whether that truly is the case, only time will tell!

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