Weather thwarts Scott charge

bruced
November 15, 2010

Adam Scott is three clear at the Singapore Open, but a 5½ hour thunderstorm delay will take him into a Monday finish.

Adam Scott closed in on the Barclays Singapore Open when he surged into a three shot lead at the Sentosa Golf Club in the thunderstorm-delayed final round on Sunday, but the 5½ hour suspension, the second in the four day event, didn’t allow the Australian to claim victory.
That will have to wait until Monday when he will have 10 holes to either wrap-up or lose the title heading home on what could be a tense closing stretch
Scott entered the final day on Sunday with a one-stroke advantage over defending champion Ian Poulter and Korean Kang Kyun-nam on 14 under par, but there was nothing to separate the trio after three holes when thunderstorms began rolling in and interupted the round.
Scott, though, picked up three birdies after the resumption to reach 17-under and move three clear of defending champion Poulter after 10 holes, while Kang had dropped to third on 13-under and was four off the pace.
US Open champion Graeme McDowell was in a tie for fourth on 12 under par through nine holes, a birdie at the sixth helping the Northern Irishman recover from two disappointing bogeys in three holes that had followed a two at the par-three second.
He was joined by Dane Anders Hansen, who was one-under for his round after eight holes, while Jamie Donaldson was part of a five-strong group on 10-under with the Welshman playing the front nine in an even-par 36.
Earlier, after electrical storms and flooded greens and fairways had delayed Sunday’s final round by 5½ hours, rain was still falling with a little more than an hour of light left, when the organisers decided the course had become playable and the conditions safe enough to resume play.
“We will play until it’s dark and then we will resume tomorrow morning at 7:30 and we will continue until we have a winner,” said Chris Jordan, senior vice president of organisers World Sports Group.
“With it being so overcast the light may die on us quicker, but we will go until it’s impossible to play.”
Entrance to the public would be free of charge on Monday and provisions have been made for the necessary changes to the players accommodation and travel arrangements.
Jordan said the $6 million co-sanctioned Asian and European Tour event, which also suffered a four-hour delay on Thursday, has regularly been hit by bad weather, but Sunday’s storm was one of the worst in memory..
“This thing (storm) just sat on top of us and has not gone anywhere, so this is very unusual,” he explained.
On Monday’s weather, Jordan added: “It’s looking slightly better than today, but I’m not going to say I’m confident, I’m just hopeful.”