Final round at Pebble pushed to Monday due to weather
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – A storm that brought 60-mph wind gusts and heavy rains forced the second consecutive Monday finish — and the fourth Monday finish in the last seven years — at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The start of the final round was delayed at Pebble Beach and officials announced at 9:30 a.m. PT that there would be no play on Sunday.
“Although the rain is expected to dissipate later today, the high winds are forecast to remain throughout the day. Due to concerns over safety, there will be no golf played Sunday,” a memo to players read.
The final round is scheduled to start at approximately 8 a.m. PT on Monday off the first and 10th tees with the final group scheduled to begin at 10:25 a.m.
Under Tour regulations, officials would only begin the final round on Monday if they had enough time to complete 18 holes.
“The drop-dead time on that would mean we would have to start play on Monday by 10:15 a.m. at the latest in order to complete play,” said Gary Young, the Tour’s chief referee. “The forecast right now on Monday is for showers in the morning, rain amounts are in the .2 to .4 inches in the morning.
“We're already dealing with a very soggy golf course and at that point we're making the decision whether or not we think that the standards for professional golf are there.”
Wyndham Clark made a charge up the leaderboard on Saturday with a 12-under 60 and leads Ludvig Åberg by a shot. The last Tour event that was shortened to 54 holes was the 2016 Zurich Classic.
“I definitely thought about it [Friday] night and this morning with everyone saying how bad the weather's going to be. All right, well, you've got to have that mentality that today's the last day so try to go for broke,” Clark said following his third round. “With that said, that's very rare that we have 54 holes, so I wasn't banking on that and I'm still not banking on it.”
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am received signature-event status for this season and was limited to a field of 80 professionals (and 80 amateurs for the first two days).
There is a scenario, however, that could extend it into Tuesday.
If officials begin play on Monday and over half the field completes play prior to a suspension, Tour rules require the event to extend another day. If less than half the field were to complete play — or they never start — Clark will be declared champion.
