Boston Globe

Before first swing, they swung into action

Storm didn’t catch officials by surprise

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff

NORTON — With Hurricane Earl roiling in the Atlantic and tracking toward New England, PGA Tour officials knew inclement weather was on its way yesterday. They knew precautionary measures needed to be taken to minimize any disruption of play in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.

And so, in addition to moving up yesterday’s tee times by 40 minutes, tour officials made other adjustments by implementing a clean, lift, and place rule, while course officials adopted a conservative setup by moving up tee boxes. It made the 7,214-yard, par-71 tract more receptive to low scores, especially in the early going, before the weather hit and prompted the suspension of play for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

“The biggest thing was that the tournament, they prepared for this weather coming in,’’ said Jason Day, who rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 9 (his last hole) to grab a share of the lead with playing competitor Zach Johnson at 8-under-par 63. “So we had lift, clean, and place. The tees were up. The greens were receptive out there today, so you could — they were only bouncing like a few yards on the greens.

“It was playing pretty short out there today, and I knew that we would get in our first round because we were going to finish pretty early.’’

Jim Furyk was among those fortunate early birds. Paired with Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson at 7:48 a.m. off the 10th tee, Furyk was walking into the scoring trailer to sign for a 5-under 66 when he heard the horn go off, signifying the stoppage of play at 12:35.

“Yeah, my regards to the guys still stuck out there and the guys that haven’t teed off, but it’s nice,’’ said Furyk, who managed to make it back to the clubhouse safe, warm, and dry. “We got some great conditions. Scores were really low this morning. No matter what happens, I feel like I was at least on a pretty good end of the stick out there.’’

While the lift, clean, and place rule was intended to make it fair for those players who faced soggy playing conditions later, those who didn’t necessarily encounter them in the early going still took advantage of the opportunity

“I pretty much picked it up and put it right back down where it was every single time,’’ said Ryan Moore, who was among seven players in the morning wave to shoot 64. “It didn’t really benefit me at all, but I was able to shoot a good round.’’

Asked if he was surprised lift, clean, and place was in effect, Rickie Fowler said, “Yes and no. Obviously, they’re expecting some water on the course, so with that, I think it was a smart decision.’’

Of the 50 players who went out in the morning, only six were unable to break par: Davis Love III and Marc Leishman (71); Pat Perez and Chad Campbell (72); and Sean O’Hair and Bryce Molder (74).

“I think the course setup was conservative, and rightfully so, based on the potential for weather and trying to even out the waves, if possible,’’ said Johnson, who took advantage to share the lead with Day. “The whole staff did a great job here. The course was there for the taking. There was minimal wind and the greens were absolutely perfect. So with that, those two combinations, it just makes for an accessible day.’’

Even if it turned out less than perfect for the other half the field, who must now wait and wonder what kind of conditions they’ll encounter for today’s second round. Telvent DTN, the PGA Tour’s weather service, was calling for heavy overnight rain with winds of 20-30 miles per hour and gusts as high as 40. Today the weather looked to be improved: partly cloudy, windy, and less humid, with temperatures from 69 to 83, and winds out of the west at 15-25 miles per hour.

“My biggest fear is I’m at 7 o’clock tomorrow morning,’’ said Kris Blanks, who shot 66 in the afternoon. “We don’t have a thunderstorm coming through, we have a hurricane that’s going to hit our area. There’s going to be debris everywhere. I’d be shocked if they can get the golf course prepared after a night of torrential downpours and 60-mile-per-hour winds at 7 in the morning.

“I’m kind of hoping they look ahead and say we only have 100 guys, we can push it back to 10, give the maintenance crew some extra time in the morning. But I’ll be here at 5:30 in the morning ready to go. If they tell us there’s a delay, we’ll just hang out in the locker room.’’

©2010 Boston Globe. Original Article