Whenever the PGA Tour suspends play due to weather, heavy rain, thunder, and lightning are usually involved.
But on Thursday at Torrey Pines, the infamous Southern California winds reached a point of no return — the tour had to stop the second round as gusts exceeded 35 miles per hour. Balls began to move on the greens; tournament officials have no choice but to sound the horn whenever that happens.
The delay lasted roughly 90 minutes.
Tour officials resumed the second round at 3:30 p.m. PT.
Thursday’s scoring averages reflect how difficult conditions became too. At the time of the suspension, on the South Course, which has hosted the U.S. Open twice, players averaged 75.430 — more than three shots higher than what players averaged during Round 1 (72.360). The same mantra applies to the easier North Course. On Thursday, scores averaged 75.570 on the North, while Wednesday’s first round produced a scoring average of 70.220 — a massive five-shot difference rarely seen.
“I don’t know if I have ever played Torrey in this much wind before,” said Joel Dahmen during a walk-and-talk interview on the Golf Channel broadcast.
“We have Santa Ana winds coming in from the east, and every now and then, we get a switch off the ocean, which has been super strange today. Really difficult to plan and this is just survival mode out here today.”
Only 49 players in this 156-player field are under par, and just 15 players completed 36 holes before the suspension. Ludvig Åberg still led at the delay, but he was 2-over through 12 holes on the South Course. The Swede fired a 9-under 63 on the North Course to sit atop the leaderboard by himself after Wednesday’s first round.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
