A long stay at Bethpage? By David Barrett

The rain, rain won't go away, so we could end up coming to Bethpage for an extra daySurprisingly, only two U.S. Opens have ever gone an extra day to complete the regulation 72 holes. The fourth round of the 1983 U.S. Open was suspended with five holes remaining due to a thunderstorm, with Larry Nelson winning on Monday morning at Oakmont, and the final 18 holes were held on Sunday in 1959 instead of the scheduled 36 holes on Saturday, with Billy Casper taking the title at Winged Foot. We could be in for a third.
Play was suspended at 10:16 a.m. on Monday, with the last threesome of the morning wave having completed only two holes and the afternoon half of the field more than two hours from teeing off. More than an inch of rain had fallen by 2 o’clock.
The weather was supposed to be better on Friday, but USGA official Jim Hyler delivered the news that their meteorologists were saying that Saturday could be “sort of like today.” Ouch. Hyler continued, “And then there’s a possibility of more rain, not like this, but more rain on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of next week.” Double ouch.
It looks like umbrellas will be necessary equipment for spectators for the duration at Bethpage. The hope is to complete the first round and start the second round tomorrow. Then maybe complete the second round despite the iffy weather on Saturday and play 36 holes on Sunday. But if the sky keeps spitting, we could be at Bethpage for a long time. They won’t shorten the national championship to 54 holes, so the USGA will stay for as long as it takes. Let’s hope everybody packed some extra clothes.
Heaven forbid we go into a playoff, which, of course, means 18 holes at the U.S. Open. That’s what happened at the 1987 U.S. Women’s Open at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, where the final round was played on Monday and Laura Davies won a playoff on Tuesday.
Or, how’s this scenario? The final round bleeds into Monday morning, it ends in a tie, and they hold the playoff Monday afternoon. Beats a Tuesday finish.
We almost had a Monday finish at Bethpage in 2002, but that was because the USGA scheduled a late-Sunday finish for television and had little margin for error when a rainstorm hit in the afternoon. Fortunately, it blew over quickly, play was resumed after about a half-hour delay, and Tiger Woods won in near darkness on the 18th green.
Speaking a little after 2 p.m., USGA senior director of competitions Mike Davis said, “If there is a glimmer of hope it is that the course, believe it or not, as much rain as this course has taken, it drains beautifully, with really the exception of that area down in 18 fairway. . . If this was a course on heavier soil on clay, I think we’d be real worried right now, not that we’re not worried. But I think it’s nice to be on this type of course [sand-based] when you get this kind of weather.”
On the other hand, it’s now 4 o’clock and the predicted breaks in the weather have not occurred. The rain has been steady and the course just keeps getting wetter and wetter. Any glimmers of hope are looking fainter and fainter.