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[OnePiece]

Begay joins NBC, Golf Channel as reporter

Published: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 | 09:06:50 PM












Michael Cohen / Getty Images
Notah Begay is now a full-time member of the broadcast team for NBC Sports and Golf Channel.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- The next time Notah Begay is inside the ropes on the PGA Tour, he'll be holding a microphone instead of a golf club.
Begay starts a new line of work this week at the Sony Open as a full-time member of the broadcast team for NBC Sports and Golf Channel. He will be a walking course reporter at Waialae Country Club
An opening was created when Dottie Pepper, who joined the board of the PGA of America, retired from NBC last year to pursue programs geared toward junior golf.
Begay is a Navajo, the only full-blooded American Indian to play on the PGA Tour. He won four times on the Tour until his career was slowed by back injuries.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to join the Golf Channel and NBC golf broadcast teams," Begay said in a statement. "The game of golf is as exciting as ever, and I look forward to utilizing my extensive experience to provide viewers with insight into the competition and its players."
The full NBC production and talent staff - including Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller in the tower - will be at the Sony Open.
A former teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford, Begay has been devoting much of his time to his foundation that he established in 2005, providing health and wellness education for Indian youth. He hosts the annual NB3 Challenge at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in New York, which attracts Woods and other top players.
Until now, most of his work has been in the studio.
Begay made his TV debut in 2010 during Golf Channel's "Live from the Masters" news coverage, and he has contributed to Golf Channel's coverage at the Masters and U.S. Open the last three years.
Along with being a walking reporter, he will contribute to Golf Channel news programs and coverage from majors.
"Notah has a wealth of knowledge, experience and a tremendous passion for the game of golf, and we are excited for him to be expanding his role within the NBC Sports Group," Golf Channel executive producer Molly Solomon said. "He already has demonstrated a knack for honest and candid analysis during Golf Channel's `Live From' coverage, and our viewers can expect the same when he reports from the golf course."

Golf Channel televises the first three PGA Tour events, ending with the Humana Challenge next week in Palm Desert, Calif. CBS Sports typically does the West Coast Swing, although NBC will have the Phoenix Open because of the Super Bowl. NBC also has the Florida Swing and two stops in Texas leading up to the Masters.

[OnePiece]

Johnson wins PGA Tour opener at Kapalua by four shots

Published: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 | 05:45:09 PM












Stan Badz / Getty Images
Dustin Johnson never lost the lead in the final round.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Dustin Johnson disappeared into a small valley of bushes and high grass as he searched for another errant tee shot, this one costing him a double bogey and making the final round of the Tournament of Champions far more exciting than he needed it to be.
Undaunted by his mistakes or the thought of blowing a big lead, he blasted driver on the next hole despite the potential for more trouble. This one was pure, rolling back off the front of the green. Johnson chipped in from 50 feet for eagle and he was on his way.
Such a wild sequence - double bogey-eagle - is par for the course for this big-hitting American.
And it was only appropriate that this weird, windy start to the PGA Tour season would end Tuesday with such a wild ride.


Johnson had a five-shot lead after seven holes. His lead was down to one shot with five holes to play. He wound up closing with a 5-under 68 for a four-shot victory over defending champion Steve Stricker.

"It was nowhere near ho-hum," Johnson said.
Nothing was.
The winners-only tournament didn't start until the fourth day because of gusts that topped 40 mph, forcing officials to shorten it to 54 holes. Once it finally got under way, it was over in 29 hours. Perhaps it was only fitting that a tournament delayed by a powerful wind was won by a guy who overpowered the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
"It definitely got close out there today," Johnson said. "Sometimes I hit a couple of bad drives, but I was always able to bounce back and do what I needed to do to stay out front."
He never felt truly in command until the final two holes, which are downhill. Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, was spotted with Johnson all week and watched from the gallery as he finished without drama at 16-under 203.
Johnson won for the sixth straight season since leaving college at Coastal Carolina, the longest streak since Tiger Woods won in 14 straight years. Only Phil Mickelson (nine) has a longer active streak of most consecutive years with a PGA Tour win.
"It looks like very little fear in him," Stricker said. "Because he'll hit one a little crooked, but he'll pull out that driver again and try it again. And he pulled it off, especially at 14. That was the deciding shot and chip for the tournament. Expect a lot of good things as he continues his career."
And don't expect it to ever be dull.
Johnson has all the tools for greatness, though his decision-making remains open to criticism. Instead of hitting an iron off the 13th tee - it's tough to get it close to the pin even with a short iron - he went with driver and invited all sorts of trouble. Remember, this is the guy who lost a three-shot lead in the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by rushing through wild shots in a round of 82. He lost a shot at another major by not realizing he was in a bunker on the last hole at Whistling Straits.
"I've done it enough times that it doesn't really bother me anymore," Johnson said. "I've been in this situation enough now and I've made enough double bogeys in my life. You know, it's just another hole, and you've got a lot more holes to go where you can make it up. Fortunately, today I made a double and then the next hole I made eagle. That definitely was the turning point of the day, because walking off 13, I was like, `Oh, no, here it goes again.'
"But I came right back, focused and hit two great shots."
Johnson also added a peculiar footnote to his record. He now has won the last three PGA Tour events reduced to 54 holes because of weather - rain at Pebble Beach in 2009, a hurricane at The Barclays in 2011 and gusts that topped 40 mph in Hawaii from a freak weather pattern that led to a bizarre season opener.
Stricker put up a good fight on one good leg. He has been feeling a shooting pain down his left side on every shot and limped his way around the most mountainous course on tour for 54 holes in two days. He closed with a 69.
"I knew it was going to be tough, but I gave it a run for a little while," Stricker said.
Brandt Snedeker went 5 under during a four-hole stretch on the front nine to get within one shot of the lead until he closed out the front nine with three straight bogeys. Snedeker had a 69 and finished alone in third, six shots behind. He moved to No. 8 in the world ranking, second only to Woods among Americans.
Masters champion Bubba Watson (71) and former PGA champion Keegan Bradley (70) were another shot back.
Johnson overcame the first threat from Snedeker with back-to-back birdies, and just like that, he was ahead by five and looked unbeatable.
His tee shot on the par-5 ninth sailed right into a patch of knee-high grass and short bushes, and Johnson never found it. Without showing any fear, he stepped up and smashed another driver dead into the wind, and then reached the green in two to salvage a two-putt bogey. He nearly drove the 12th green downwind for a birdie and a three-shot lead over Stricker, and that's when the fun began.
Johnson hit driver on the 13th and pulled it enough to land into a bunker and tumble into a native area of high grass, trees and plenty more.
"We found a shoe, some sunglasses, about five or six other balls," said Stricker, who joined in the search. "There might have been a guy living up in the tree."
Johnson found the ball, but it took two swings to get it back in play, and he had to two-putt from about 50 feet just to escape with double bogey. He thought his lead was gone as he watched Stricker, so smooth with a putter in hand, stand over his 20-foot birdie putt. It turned away at the last second.
With trouble to the right on the 14th, Johnson was predictable as ever. He pulled driver.
"He hit a couple of wayward drives and opened the door for me a little bit, and then he stepped up there with a driver again (on 14), and I'm like, `OK.' But then he piped it, and chips it in," Stricker said with a smile. "Most guys would have been pulling out an iron or some utility club. It's amazing that he even did that, to tell you the truth."
How good can Johnson be?
"I still don't think I've lived up to my potential," Johnson said. "I played really well, but still made some mistakes. But you're always going to make some mistakes. Just limiting those will definitely help, and then for me, just making some better decisions.
"If I keep playing golf like I'm playing right now, then obviously there is no limit."

[OnePiece]

Kapalua now in a different golf landscape

Published: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 | 03:45:09 PM











KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Paradise can leave a lasting impression.
Steve Stricker was just starting to pull himself out of a deep slump in 2006 when he was reminded by his daughter, Bobbi Maria, how long it had been since he last won on the PGA Tour. She was 8 at the time and won a tournament for juniors at their home club in Wisconsin, no more than three or six holes.
"She comes home all excited and says, `Daddy, I won, I won! We're going to Hawaii,"' Stricker once recalled.
He had to break the news to her.
Stricker was the one who had to win a tournament for them to go to Kapalua to start a new season, and he did that the following year.
As traditions go in golf, starting the year on the rugged coast of Maui is relatively new. The Tournament of Champions began in Las Vegas in 1953, moved to La Costa Resort north of San Diego in 1969 and stayed there 30 years until coming to Kapalua.
This was the 15th year the tour has started at Kapalua, and there has never been another year like this one. A tournament that was supposed to end on Monday didn't start until Monday because of three days of powerful wind - one gust measuring 48 mph - that had the locals drawing comparisons with a 100-year storm.
About the only good that came out of such freak weather was that it took attention away, however briefly, from the PGA Tour winners who stayed home and missed out on the endless days - the top four players in the world ranking, for starters, led by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.
It's not a new problem, but it's still a problem. And it contributes to a future as cloudy as Molokai at sunrise.
Kapalua has a contract only through this year to host the tournament.
Hyundai's three-year deal as the title sponsor of the Tournament of Champions expires this year, even though corporate officials sounded optimistic about renewing and there are strong signs it will happen.
It doesn't help that Mother Nature was in a bad mood this week. Few things in golf cause a knee-jerk reaction like bad weather.
There were suggestions to move the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am to the end of the West Coast Swing after the tournament was canceled by rain in 1996, completed nearly seven months after it started in 1998 because of rain, and shortened to 54 holes a year later because of - you guessed it - rain.
Since then, Pebble has had more than its share of glorious weather.
The rain was so bad in California in 2005 that the Nissan Open at Riviera went five days to get in 36 holes. The next week, the Match Play Championship at La Costa was postponed one day because the entire course looked like a water hazard. Woods wondered if it might not be better for the PGA Tour to spend February in Florida and March in California. It sounded like a reasonable idea until a Champions Tour in Florida was shortened to 36 holes because of rain.
Wiser heads will realize that golf is an outdoor sport. It's not a disgrace when weather causes problems. It's a miracle it doesn't happen more often.
The issues on Maui go beyond weather.
The PGA Tour is going to a wraparound season in the fall, meaning the real season-opener will be in October at the Frys.com Open. There already will be six tournaments in the books before the Tournament of Champions next January.
Is that a problem? Not when you consider that for 33 years, the Tournament of Champions was held after the Masters.
"We are not terribly concerned about it," said Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing for Hyundai. "I think there is that aspect of it's the start of the year, so even if it's literally not the first PGA Tour event, there's something about the start of the year, and there's something about this location."
Still to be determined is what he meant by location - Kapalua specific or Hawaii in general?
Kapalua tends to get the brunt of the bad weather. There can be what the locals call "pineapple showers" along this portion of the coast, while only 20 miles away there is abundant sunshine and less wind. Still, the Plantation Course is the only course in Hawaii that Golf Digest ranks among the greatest 100 courses in America (No. 97). It's unlike any course the PGA Tour plays all year with dramatic changes in elevation and stunning views of the Pacific, such as humpback whales breaching and surfers at Honolua Bay.
The bigger concern is getting more players to come, though that's been an issue for years now.
Woods hasn't been back since 2005, when he started taking uninterrupted breaks in the winter. Phil Mickelson stopped coming a decade ago, suggesting the wind and slope allowed bad habits to creep into his swing. Adding to the list of absentees is Europe producing some of the best players. The European Tour season stretches deep in November, and some players simply want a long break going into the new season.
The 30-man field this year was hardly a disaster, and the leaderboard going into the final round featured a top five of Dustin Johnson, Stricker, Masters champion Bubba Watson, FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker and former PGA champion Keegan Bradley. A lot of tournaments would love to have a leaderboard like that.
Years ago, an idea was tossed around to expand the field by offering a two-year exemption to the Tournament of Champions and include all past champions of the event, with the idea of getting Els and Sergio Garcia to the event because they didn't win the year before. Sure, having them at Kapalua would have helped. But the biggest mistake golf can make is to change rules around any one player, even a player like Tiger Woods.
Besides, Els and Garcia both won on the PGA Tour last year and were eligible to start the year in Kapalua. Neither of them showed up.

[OnePiece]

Jumeirah Group ends sponsorship with Rory McIlroy

Published: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 | 03:55:02 AM












Warren Little/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy is expected to sign an endorsement deal with Nike next week.



DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Jumeirah Group has announced that it is not renewing its five-year sponsorship deal with top-ranked Rory McIlroy amid expectations that the Northern Ireland golf star will sign with Nike next week.
The global luxury hotel company based in the United Arab Emirates signed a five-year deal with McIlroy when he was 18 and was one of his first corporate sponsors.
The announcement allows McIlroy to pursue a lucrative endorsement contract, with strong indications that he will sign with Nike in a deal that one industry observer estimated at $20 million a year. That would give Nike golf's two biggest stars in McIlroy and Tiger Woods, who has been with the swoosh since he turned pro in 1996.

[OnePiece]

Play begins, and Dustin Johnson takes control at Kapalua

Published: Monday, January 07, 2013 | 05:45:08 PM












Christian Petersen / Getty Images
Dustin Johnson was a combined 11 under through 36 holes on Monday.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- The PGA Tour season finally got under way on Monday, and Dustin Johnson wasted no time taking control in the Tournament of Champions.
Johnson had not played the Plantation Course at Kapalua since Thursday. Once he got started, he hardly missed a shot. Johnson had seven putts at eagle over 36 holes, four on the back nine alone in the second round. He missed only three greens in regulation. And when his marathon day ended, he had rounds of 69-66 for a three-shot lead over defending champion Steve Stricker.


Three days behind schedule because of high wind, the season started on the day the tournament was supposed to finish. Rickie Fowler made PGA Tour history by hitting the opening shot of the season three times - the first two "opening rounds" had to be scrapped by 40 mph gusts roaring down the hills.
Johnson returned some degree of normalcy under warm sunshine and strong wind. He simply overpowered Kapalua, twice driving the green on par 4s, one of them into the wind. He was at 11-under 135, and that lead looms even larger with only one round to play.
Stricker started the long day wondering if he could even finish. About a month ago, he began feeling a shooting pain down his left side when he shifted his weight in that direction, and he was limping badly coming down the hill on the 18th in the middle of his second round. But from 67 yards away, his pitch rode the slope and the wind to perfection and dropped for eagle, and his spirits lifted.
Stricker added a pair of birdies on the front nine and had a 67 to reach 138.
(Related Photos: Pros' custom gear in Hawaii)
The opening week has been so strange that Monday at times felt like the start of the tournament, and also moving day to get into position. Even after just 36 holes, there was some clear separation.
Bubba Watson, playing with Johnson and frustrated by the wind and slow greens, birdied his last hole for a 69 and was four shots out of the lead. Keegan Bradley (69) and Brandt Snedeker (70) were another shot behind. They were the only players within five shots of Johnson.
Even though Johnson had not played the golf course since the pro-am Thursday, there was no lack of familiarity. He arrived a week early, and had six practice rounds on the Plantation Course before the wind arrived. He has a new driver and irons and wanted to make sure he made the adjustment. That doesn't seem to be a problem.
"I'm pretty pleased with my equipment. I'm pretty pleased with my game right now," Johnson said.
His only blunder in the afternoon was hitting the ball too well. He ran off three straight birdies late in the second round to pull away, and they were spectacular. He drove the green into the wind on the 292-yard 14th hole for a two-putt birdie, and then smashed a 3-wood 259 yards into the wind and onto the green for another two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th. That was followed by a knockdown shot from 90 yards that the wind blew back to the hole within 4 feet for birdie.
His caddie, Bobby Brown, wanted Johnson to hit 3-wood with the wind at his back on the 17th, but Johnson tried to hit a soft driver. He crushed it, as usual, and it ran through the fairway and into the hazard for his only bogey. He answered with a 5-iron from 243 yards on the downhill 18th for a 6-foot eagle to take command.
It's tough enough for Stricker to match Johnson's length on a course like this. Tougher still is doing it when he can barely walk, especially downhill. Stricker isn't sure what's wrong with his lower back, or what's causing the pain. He took a small consolation from the fact it didn't get worse.
"It felt as crappy on the first hole as the last hole," he said.
Stricker said at the start of the tournament that he was going into semi-retirement this year, playing only about 10 events. He won't return to the PGA Tour after this week until the end of February at the Match Play Championship. And he's not going to roll over for Johnson, regarded as the best American player under 30.
"You've just got to go out and play and play your hardest and see what happens," Stricker said. "I've been in that position where he's at now. It's a tough spot. It's tough to win in front. We've got really nothing to lose tomorrow and it makes it a little bit easier for us, but tougher on him."
Johnson will gladly take his position. He will be trying to win in his sixth straight season since leaving college, the longest streak of any player since Tiger Woods. And he won the last two 54-hole events on the PGA Tour, at the hurricane-shortened Barclays in 2011 and rain-delayed Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2009.

[OnePiece]

LPGA adds tournament in Bahamas for 2013

Published: Monday, January 07, 2013 | 05:15:08 AM











DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- The LPGA Tour has a new tournament this year that will be played in The Bahamas.
Commissioner Mike Whan said Monday that Pure Silk will be the title sponsor of the Bahamas LPGA Classic, to be played May 23-26 at Ocean Club Golf Course at Atlantis in Paradise Islands. The 72-hole event will have a $1.3 million purse.
Whan says there are few things more enjoyable for a commissioner than to tell his players they're going to The Bahamas for Memorial Day weekend.
Pure Silk also signed on as an official marketing partner of the LPGA. The company that makes shaving cream for women already had deals with players such as Stacy Lewis, Natalie Gulbis and Brittany Lincicome.
The full LPGA schedule is expected to be announced later this week.

[OnePiece]

PGA Tour's season opener at Kapalua delayed again; event reduced to 54 holes

By DOUG FERGUSON ,AP Golf Writer | Published: Sunday, January 06, 2013 | 07:12:08 PM












Christian Petersen/Getty Images
There was no golf Saturday at the Plantation Course, but there were plenty of rainbows.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- For those who think the PGA Tour season never ends, here's a new twist: This one can't get started.
For the second straight day, the Tournament of Champions was postponed Saturday because of gusts topping 40 mph that made it impossible to play. Some holes on the back nine are so exposed that when officials dropped a golf ball on the green, it actually rolled up uphill.
The tournament was supposed to begin Friday. The plan is to play 36 holes Sunday and get in 54 holes by Monday afternoon, making it likely that the Tournament of Champions will be decided over 54 holes for the first time since 1997 when it was at La Costa.
Unlike Friday, when 24 players at least teed off, no one hit a shot on the Plantation Course on Saturday.

[OnePiece]

PGA Tour opener at Kapalua delayed once again by high wind

Published: Sunday, January 06, 2013 | 06:05:08 PM












Christian Petersen / Getty Images
Matt Kuchar couldn't keep a hat on his head -- or a ball on his tee -- on the 10th hole, his first, on Sunday at Kapalua.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Another attempt to start the PGA Tour season was blown away Sunday.
Just more than an hour into the opening round of the Tournament of Champions, play was suspended when more 40 mph gusts came roaring down the Plantation Course at Kapalua and left officials no choice but to wipe out yet another round.
Rickie Fowler will hit the opening tee shot of the 2013 season on Monday - for the third time this week.
Andy Pazder, the tour's chief of operations, said earlier Sunday that the decisions not to play "were not hard" because the wind was severe.
The evidence from one hour of golf was overwhelming.
Matt Kuchar's golf ball blew off the tee twice before he could even hit his first tee shot. Charlie Beljan played six shots before he reached his first green. Ben Curtis had birdie putts on the first two holes and played them in 5-over par.
The winners-only tournament was supposed to begin Friday, but the round was scrapped by high wind after no one had played more than eight holes. It tried to start Sunday - the day most golf tournaments end - and it was clear early on there would be trouble.
"We need to try to put the show on," Ian Poulter said. "Hyundai spent a lot of money. We want to play. Fans want to see us play. TV wants to see us play. We're backed into a corner. I don't think they understand how windy it really is. Now they've seen it."

It was comical from the start, with Kuchar having to tee it up three times before he could hit, and removing his cap the rest of the way. Jonas Blixt had a 1-foot par putt on the 10th hole and took about two minutes. He had to wait as a cup and someone's hat blew across the green.
The final blow came at the 12th hole. Scott Stallings had a tap-in and as he approached the ball to take his stance, it blew some 8 feet away.
"It's crazy. That's the only way to describe it," Curtis said. "I've never hit two greens in regulation at the start and walked away at 5 over. But hey. At least we had to try."
And they will try again - 36 holes on Monday, when the forecast is for less wind, followed by an 18-hole finish on Tuesday. That puts a crimp on the next tournament, the Sony Open in Honolulu, which starts on Thursday. Pazder had said the Sony Open would have a limited television production because it's at least a 16-hour trip by barge to get the equipment over to Oahu.
The original plan Sunday was to play 36 holes and then 18 on Monday for a 54-hole event. But when the players arrived, rules officials checking the conditions on the back nine could barely stand up, so the start was delayed by four hours.
There was trouble all over.
Poulter had to back off six times on a 10-foot birdie putt at the 11th hole. Two holes later, he had 138 yards to the front of the 13th, into the wind, and backed off endlessly. He finally hit a beauty, and he posed over the shot until it landed just short of the green and rolled some 30 yards down the fairway.
He hit a 4-iron.
Poulter turned to stare at a half-dozen people watching him, explaining in his own way that a 4-iron typically goes more than 138 yards. Across the way on the 10th hole, a search party was stomping through the native grass trying to find the two tee shots hit by Beljan. He found the second one. The grass was so deep that after the five minutes had ended, a woman found his original ball. She went to show him, and then couldn't find it.
Beljan took a whack and whiffed. He hammered at it again with a wedge and moved it back to the fairway. He had a 15-foot putt for triple bogey when play was stopped. Even more amazing is that Beljan - one of the biggest hitters in golf - hit 8-iron from 102 yards to about 25 feet. The wind blew the ball 10 feet closer.
As difficult as it was, and as frustrated as the players have been, they all want to play. Now it's a matter of defining which sport they're trying to play.
"That's not golf," Poulter said. "I don't know what that is. You saw it. You can't pull a trigger. You're taking 20 practice swings because you can't stand up. I guess what we've done is shown everyone it's unplayable. In some respect, at least we hit a couple of shots. Three days of sitting in the hotel is not good. At least I've warmed up for something. I'm just not sure what I've warmed up for."

[OnePiece]

More wind brings prospect of Tuesday finish

Published: Sunday, January 06, 2013 | 01:05:07 PM












Elaine Thompson / AP
High winds continue to cause delays at Kapalua.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Another day in paradise brought yet another delay to the PGA Tour's season opener.
Gusts so strong that rules officials had a hard time walking led to at least a four-hour delay Sunday in the Tournament of Champions, the event that can't get started. The tour's goal was to play 18 holes - hopefully - followed by 36 holes Monday.
But even as the wind was unrelenting, the prospect of a Tuesday finish entered the equation. Television became a factor, too, as the tour struggled to balance proper coverage of its winners-only event in Kapalua and the Sony Open, which starts Thursday in Honolulu.
Some players stored their clubs and wearily headed back to their hotels, a routine they know all too well.
"4 hour delay now. Back to the hotel. & not even looking good after then," Ian Poulter tweeted.
It will be the first 54-hole event for this tournament since 1997 when it was held at rain-soaked La Costa north of San Diego. Adding to the frustration was a blue sky over the Plantation Course, offering splendid views of the rugged Maui coast - along with flags crackling in 30 mph wind.
Most golf tournaments end Sunday. This one was hopeful just to start on Sunday.
Locals can't recall ever seeing so many days of high wind. And when gusts top 40 mph, there are some greens where the ball won't come to a rest. The tour did not mow the greens Sunday morning, and they are running at 8 1/2 on the Stimpmeter. But even in flat spots, the ball wouldn't stay still.
"It was hard walking out there," said Slugger White, vice president of rules and competition. "It was knocking me over."
One of the laser towers toppled in the wind, and the anchors on other towers were coming loose. White said the flag on the 11th green was at a 45-degree angle. The back nine, particularly holes 10 through 13, are the most exposed on this mountainous course.
"The decisions aren't hard," Andy Pazder, the tour's chief of operations, said of the delays.
The difficult part is television.
Already slated for a Monday finish so golf's opener could steer clear of the NFL playoffs, the tournament could end Tuesday if the winds don't subside. And with the next tournament starting Thursday in Honolulu, there would not be enough time for all the TV equipment to be taken down and loaded onto a barge for the 16-hour trip across choppy waters to Oahu.
"If we find out we cannot play today, that brings Tuesday squarely into the equation," Pazder said.
He said if Kapalua were to be televised on a Tuesday, "the effect would be significant on Thursday - and maybe even Friday - for the Sony Open."
Pazder said Golf Channel might have a scaled-back operation for the opening round Thursday at the Sony Open if it came to that.

[OnePiece]

First-day play washed out at PGA Tour opener

Published: Friday, January 04, 2013 | 07:35:02 PM












Elaine Thompson/AP
Play was suspended after wind and rain made conditions unplayable on Thursday.



KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- The PGA Tour season now starts on Saturday.
Wind squalls that howled down off the mountains above Maui were so severe Friday that tour officials scrapped the first round of the Tournament of Champions. All scores were erased - only 20 players in the 30-man field even had scores on their cards - and the round will start over Saturday with 36 holes, weather permitting.
"I can honestly say the forecast isn't real good, but maybe we'll get lucky,'' said Slugger White, the tour's vice president of rules and competition. "That's the hope.''
Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner, who supposedly started the 2013 season by playing in the first group, only made it through eight holes. Six players, including defending champion Steve Stricker, had not even teed off.
It was the first time since The Players Championship in 2005 that a round had been wiped clean.
The decision was great news for Scott Stallings, who made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the third hole and already was 7-over par after four holes. He will tee off as if none of that ever happened. As for U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson?
"It stinks for me,'' Simpson said.
With a conversative game plan and a few good putts, Simpson was 3 under par after seven holes when play was stopped. Jonas Blixt of Sweden at 1 under was the only player surviving par.
So much for starting the season in paradise.
This felt more like work than a working vacation, and the 40 mph gusts became too much when Carl Pettersson lagged a 40-foot putt that was slowing around the hole until a gust came up and blew it another 30 feet and just off the green. Hunter Mahan went to address a putt and ball blew a few feet forward. Ian Poulter said he used his umbrella to shield the wind so he could mark his ball on the green, but when the umbrella moved, so did his golf ball.
"You couldn't identify the best players out here,'' Pettersson said.
The plan was to play 36 holes Saturday, although the forecast was not much better - occasional bursts of rain and big gusts. The Plantation Course at Kapalua was built on a mountain, and it's one of the toughest courses to walk all year. It figures to be a brutal day for the caddies.
"I'm not sure how I'm going to feel,'' Pettersson said.
Bubba Watson, who had yet to tee off, said it looked like "goofy golf'' from what he saw on television. FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker was on the practice range and told of an 8-iron that only went about 50 yards. "I could have caught it if I ran fast enough,'' he said.
Those were the kind of shots that counted on the golf course.
Players were averaging about 350 yards off the tee on the first hole, with the trade wind at their backs. On the third hole, dead into the wind, no one hit a drive longer than 248 yards except for Stallings - his went 265 yards, only because it hit a cart path and disappeared into the native grass and was never found.
Fowler hit a driver and a 5-iron on the third hole. It's usually a wedge.
"Numbers were kind of irrelevant at times,'' Fowler said, referring to yardages.
That happens all the time in golf, especially on links courses. The problem, however, was on the putting greens.
The wind was howling at sunrise and never relented, so everyone was playing in the same conditions. And there were times the wind laid down. Simpson was thinking of laying up on the par-5 fifth hole when the rain and wind subsided, and he switched to a fairway metal and reached the green.
Why even start at all under conditions so severe for this golf course?
"We aren't really looking for these gusts up to 40 mph,'' White said. "We had gusts up to 42 mph. I don't think you can just not try to play.''
Kuchar was on the eighth tee when play was stopped. He stood over his 4-iron, then back off. He got back into position to play, and then backed off again. "It just felt too funny to pull the trigger,'' he said.
Players originally were told to stay on the course to see if conditions would improve, and before long, they were brought back to the clubhouse. About an hour later, White met with them in the dining room to tell them the day was over.
"Obviously, I was thrilled,'' Stallings said. "It was just really bad. I hit bad shots and got bad breaks. I'd like to know how Webb Simpson was 3 under.''
He might not have been for long. His final tee shot on the par-3 eighth came up well short of the green, and it was not clear if it went into the gorge. Even though seven holes of remarkable golf no longer counts, Simpson managed to find one positive aspect to the day.
"I got off to a great start, but that's the way it goes. I'm sure they made the decision that's best for all the guys,'' he said. "But the good news is, I had a good start and I'm playing well. We're just trying to keep the ball in play and in front of us and I was able to make a couple of putts. And that's what you have to do on a day like today.''