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Friday, March 29, 2024

Barclays cut to 54 holes as Irene nears

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EDISON, N.J. (AP) — The PGA Tour on Friday reduced its first

playoff event to 54 holes because of the rain and potential damage

expected from Hurricane Irene.

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New Jersey was under a hurricane warning, and officials feared up

to 10 inches of rain could fall on Sunday. That would make it

impossible for The Barclays to be a 72-hole tournament, and the

aftermath of the storm would keep Plainfield Country Club from

being ready even into early next week.

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Tournament director Peter Mele also said the volunteers needed to

be home to make plans for their families.

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“It kind of makes you want to cry because of all the effort that

went in, and all of the energy that surrounded this event going

into the week, which is going to be the best Barclays we have ever

had,” Mele said.

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Slugger White, the tour’s vice president of competition, said the

plan was finish 36 holes Friday and start the third round first

thing Saturday morning, with hopes of getting in a 54-hole event

before the rain arrives.

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If they can’t finish Saturday, he said it would revert to a 36-hole

tournament. Points would be distributed as if it were a full event,

meaning the top 100 players after The Barclays would advance to the

second playoff event next week outside Boston.

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Left unclear was whether a 36-hole tournament – if that were the

case – would count as an official win. Six years ago, Adam Scott

won the Nissan Open at Riviera in a playoff after rain reduced the

tournament to 36 holes. Scott was awarded the prize money, but it

did not count toward the money list, and he received only 75

percent of the world ranking points.

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“In the past it has not been an official win,” White said. “But

this is a little different situation.”

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What mattered more at this FedEx Cup playoff event was advancing to

Boston. A short tournament figured to work in the favor of someone

like Padraig Harrington and Will McGirt, the last two players of

the 125 who qualified for the playoffs. They were off to a good

start at The Barclays, and had only one more round to go to get

into the top 100.

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And it suddenly became compelling at the top of the

leaderboard.

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Matt Kuchar shot a 65 in the second round Friday morning. He was

one shot ahead of Dustin Johnson, who was playing the reachable

18th hole. Justin Rose also finished his second round at 65 and was

alone in third place.

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It was another blow to The Barclays, one of golf’s biggest sponsors

which is enduring a wet streak. It’s Singapore Open last fall did

not finish until Monday because of rain. Another event it sponsors,

the Scottish Open, was reduced to 54 holes in July because of

rain.

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White said workers would start taking down the electronic

scoreboards Friday afternoon.

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The Barclays was a sellout at Plainfield. Mele said only Saturday

tickets would be honored for the third round. He said those who had

Sunday tickets would be able to use them next year, when the

tournament moves to Bethpage Black.

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This is the second straight year a hurricane has been the focus at

a playoff event. Hurricane Earl threatened the Deutsche Bank

Championship outside Boston last season, although it never

developed.

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“I think you never know with hurricanes. They are fickle as we all

know,” Mele said. “Unfortunately, this one wasn’t.”

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