After a false start during a stormy Thursday morning that would appeal only to umbrella manufacturers and meteorology fanatics, the Genesis Open turned into a very crowded race to the top.
Only half of the field of 144 golfers got on the course once play began for real, and by that time the fast and challenging greens at Riviera Country Club had become welcome mats for golfers supremely skilled at firing balls at the pins.
When play was finally suspended at 5:34 p.m., 72 golfers were on the course and none had completed a round, leaving the other 72 to start their opening rounds Friday morning.
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The leaderboard is seriously impacted.
Jordan Spieth is tied for the top spot with Sung Kang at five under par. Patrick Rodgers and Jimmy Walker are a shot back at minus four, Tony Finau and J.T. Poston are one behind them and 10 players are at two under. Thirty-three players are under par.
“I’m glad we’re getting to play some,” said Spieth, who completed 12 holes. “It’s not fun if you don’t get to play at all.”
Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Fred Couples are among the players who have yet to tee off.
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J.B. Holmes hugs his son Tucker and wife Erica after winning on the 18th hole the Genesis Open golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Justin Thomas hits above a bunker on the second hole during fourth round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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J.B. Holmes, Justin Thomas, and Adam Scott, walk up a hill on the 18th hole during fourth round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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J.B. Holmes tries to hit out of a bunker on the seventh hole during fourth round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Tiger Woods tees off at No. 10 during the fourth round of the Genesis Open.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Phil Mickelson tees off at the 10th hole during fourth round of the Genesis Open on Sunday.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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J.B. Holmes tees off on the 18th hole during the final round of the Genesis Open on Sunday.
(Ryan Kang / Associated Press)
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Tiger Woods puts at No. 9 during the third round of the Genesis Open on Sunday.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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J.B. Holmes holds the winner’s trophy on the 18th green after the conclusion of the Genesis Open golf tournament at Riviera Country Club.
(Ryan Kang / Associated Press)
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Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during his third round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Phil Mickelson is greeted by fans as he walks to the practice tee before his third round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam Scott watches his tee shot on the 2nd hole during his third round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club. He birdied the hole.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Jim Furyk chips onto the the second green from a hillside above the green during the third round of the Genesis Open.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the second hole during his third round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam Scott putts for eagle on the first green during his third round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Co-leader Justin Thomas hits his tee shot on the 2nd hole during his second round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Co-leader Adam Scott waits to putt under an umbrella during a downpour on the 16th hole during his second round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Co-leader Justin Thomas puts his jacket on his head during a downpour on the 2nd hole during his second round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans take selfies as Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas walk by during the second day of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits out of the green side bunker on the 11th hole during his first round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Kuchar hits his tee shot on the 10th hole during his first round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Co-leader Justin Thomas hits his approach shot onto the second green during the second day of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods lines up his putt on the 14th green during the second day of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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PACIFIC PALISADES, CA - FEBRUARY 15, 2019: Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during his first round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Spectators stand in the rain as they wait for Tiger Woods to tee off on the 18th hole during the second day of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods waits to hit out of the rough on the 17th hole during the second day of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Co-leader Justin Thomas chips out of the rough on the 18th hole during the second day of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Co-leader Jordan Spieth hits out of the rough on the 13th hole during the first round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Last year’s winner, Bubba Watson, hits his tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Genesis Open.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam Long hits out of the green side bunker on the 9th hole during the first round.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Phil Mickelson hits out of the rough on the 11th hole during the first round.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans react as co-leader Jordan Spieth just misses a birdie on the 18th hole during the first round.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A caddy juggles oranges as he takes refuge in a snack hut with the sign guy during a downpour in the first round.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
PGA Tour officials had hoped to get some of the first round in at the scheduled 6:40 a.m. start, and 10 groups did begin before play was suspended at 7:30 because of diminishing visibility and deteriorating conditions. No one finished more than two holes.
By midmorning, the blowing rain was so intense that visibility was reduced to almost nothing, wind threatened to delimb some of the hundreds of towering eucalyptus and sycamore trees, and ponds and streams materialized in areas where, under more moderate rainfall, water usually drains quickly.
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Eventually, the tour decided to nullify those early scores and start fresh whenever conditions permitted.
“We don’t do that very often,” Mark Russell, vice president of rules and regulations, said of eliminating the early scores.
“But if I had it to do over again, we would have delayed the starting times.
“Once we did suspend play, the committee got together and just decided that we need to nullify those scores because the visual, it never got where you could see where your ball went.”
Play officially started seven hours late, at 1:40 p.m., after about two inches of rain had fallen and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairway. About four hours later, another shower blew through Pacific Palisades — soaking those who had ventured to the course believing the weather was clearing — but play continued.
Players on the course Thursday will return to complete their first rounds Friday morning, then the players scheduled to play Thursday afternoon will play until dark. Saturday morning, the first wave from Thursday will play its second round, with the cut coming around midday Saturday.
Phil Mickelson got one eventful hole in before the early-morning delay. He started on the 306-yard par-four 10th hole, drove his tee shot into a bunker short of the green, blasted out of the damp sand across the green into another bunker, hit his third shot over the green again into a third bunker, then holed that 10-yard shot for a not-very-routine par.
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When he started again in the afternoon, the morning action no longer relevant, he managed par again after his tee shot drifted well left of the green near an access road.
The last time scores were reset in a tour event was the third round of the 2013 Deutsche Bank Championship, now known as the Dell Technologies Championship, at the TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
Rain has been an occasional, if unwelcome, guest in this tournament in the past. Two years ago, similar downpours over the first two days brought out an army of groundskeepers to drain bunkers that had been turned into ponds and clean up debris deposited by high winds. Ultimately, Dustin Johnson played 36 holes on Sunday and won the tournament.
In 2005, players were able to complete only two rounds through Sunday, and the tour was hopeful of completing a third round on Monday. Rain forced them to abandon that plan about 7:30 a.m. because of unplayable conditions, and co-leaders Adam Scott and Chad Campbell paddled out to the 18th tee for a one-hole playoff. Scott won and earned the full winner’s check, but it was an unofficial victory because they hadn’t managed to play 54 holes.
Mike James is a former Sports editor of the Los Angeles Times. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., James came to The Times from the Hartford Courant in 1985, took a hiatus from the print world in 2000 to work as coordinating producer at FoxSports.com and managing editor of the nightly news report on Fox Sports Net. He returned to The Times in 2002 and, after three years as deputy Sports editor, became Sports editor in 2009.
