CHIBA, Japan — Tiger Woods had Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club rocking during the opening round of the Zozo Championship when he surged to the lead with a 64.
A day later, the place is practically underwater.
Without anyone hitting a shot in the second round, play was called at 6:30 a.m. local time (5:30 p.m. ET Thursday) due to heavy rain from Typhoon Bualoi, which is expected to bring as much as five inches of rain to the area.
According to the PGA Tour, rain is forecast for all day in Chiba, with 100 percent chance from noon to 4 p.m.
The hope was to start play at 7 a.m. and many players and spectators had already arrived Friday morning, although it began raining overnight.
The plan now is to begin play on Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. ET Friday) in threesomes off both tees with no regrouping following the round. The hope is to have all players complete 27 holes, then repeat the process on Sunday in order to complete the 72-hole tournament.
Two weeks ago, Tyhpoon Hagibis hit the area, bringing considerable damage, although none to Narashina Country Club.
“We will play as much golf as possible tomorrow,” said Gary Young, vice president of rules and competitions for the PGA Tour. “Round 3, until darkness forces us to suspend play for the day. In our planning, that should leave us with approximately two hours of golf to complete on Sunday morning.”
The problem will be getting the golf course ready after a day of rain. Young said it was already unplayable Friday morning.
Young said the tournament would go to Monday if needed, as playing 72 holes is preferred to shortening the event.
The forecast was already on players’ minds prior to the postponement of play.
“It’s going to be a grind on the weekend,” Woods said. “There’s going to be a lot of golf on the weekend for all of us, probably close to 54 holes or so for some of the guys that are going out there on the weekend. So it will be a long couple of days for us.”
Woods rescheduled tee time for Saturday morning along with Tommy Fleetwood and Satoshi Kodaira is 8:10 a.m. (7:10 p.m. ET Friday).