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Weather once again hampers Muirfield Village
by Dave Weissman, Columbus Wired
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The weather once again interrupted play at the 2006 Memorial Tournament. Late in the day, with the second round finally completed and the third round nearly done, the horn sounded indicating lighting and thunderstorms in the area at 7:58 pm. 25 players had yet to complete the round. Carl Pettersson (-11) remained in the lead, followed by Woody Austin (-10), Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson (-8).

When the horn blew, Austin was making a serious run at the top. With birdies on 4, 8, 13 and 17 along with an eagle on 15, Austin was laying two on the final hole with his ball on the fringe of the green with the thought that he would have to begin his day tomorrow with that putt for a birdie opportunity.

Second-round leader Pettersson went about his round just like another day at the office. Officially as the horn sounded, he was still on top of the leader board with an 11-under par total. Thru 15 holes, he had one bogey and four birdies.

Pettersson, in the clubhouse since yesterday with an 8-under par lead, withstood Sean O’Hair and Adam Scott (7-under par) to remain in the lead after the second round. Play on Friday was suspended twice, once for over six hours due to inclement weather and later due to darkness with 71 players still having to complete their round.

Scott, in a tie for second place after the round, credited his putting (27 putts in the second round) with his low score. “I just came out this morning and made every putt I looked at,” said Scott. “When you make putts, it’s easy to get things going.” He is currently in 4th place, 8-under par. His third round was all over the place. He had five birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey, also thru 15 holes.

Phil Mickelson started out at 5-under but saw all areas of the score card today with three birdies, and eagle, two bogeys and a double bogey to drop to 4th place at 8-under par. His 52’8” putt on 7 for the eagle was a highlight of the day.

With the cut set earlier in the day at 4-over par, 75 players made it to the weekend. Fan favorite and Ohio guy Joey Sindelar made the cut aided by a par saving putt on 18 to card a 3-over par for the round and 4-over for the tournament. “This is one of my favorite events ever for a thousand reasons,” Sindelar commented after his round. “Anytime I can stick around for the weekend, I’m thrilled.”

Missing the cut after having to finish their second rounds this morning included Charles Howell III, John Cook, Jasper Parnevik, Stephen Ames and OSU grad and Ohioan Kevin Hall who shot a pair of 79’s for the tournament. Fred Couples also missed the cut after a second place finish last year, losing to Bart Bryant.

Another casualty was Jason Gore, a wonderful personality who came onto the PGA scene as he went from journeyman to contender in last year’s U.S. Open. Gore has not played here at Muirfield since the U.S. Amateur in 1992. “I had a great time here. It’s a wonderful golf course,” he said. “To come out and miss the cut by one shot is disappointing but hopefully next year I’ll be back and get a chance again.”

When the third round got started at 1:30 p.m. the course was wet but in fantastic shape thanks to the maintenance crews who stayed up all night preparing the course after yesterday’s nonstop rain. In order to catch up, players teed off from both #1 and #10 holes, with the leaders teeing off at 3:30 pm, thought was that there was enough time to get the entire round in. But at 7:58, the horn sounded, ending play for the day.

For the twenty-four players yet to finish their third round, it will be a long day towards the tournament championship.