KAPALUA, Hawaii — The first tournament of the PGA Tour season will now be a three-day contest after severe winds in Hawaii prompted tour officials to scrap the first round of the Tournament of Champions Friday. All scores were erased — only 20 players in the 30-man field even had scores on their cards — and the round will start afresh 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 US Open champion Webb Simpson? “It stinks for me,” Simpson said. With a conservative 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. Wind gusts of more than 70 kph 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. 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. 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. — Agencies
