PGA Championship: Frost at Oak Hill Country Club caused the start of the 105th PGA Championship to be postponed by over two hours.
The second men’s major of the year was supposed to start at 7 a.m. local time (midday BST) in Rochester, but a freeze warning for the area and overnight frost prevented that from happening.
Early on Thursday morning, tournament organisers issued a statement to confirm the information, stating: “Due to frost, the golf course and all practice facilities at Oak Hill Country Club are temporarily closed.
“To protect playing surfaces, everyone on-site must stay off any grass, and gates will not open until the frost clears.”
The practise facilities and practice putting green would open at 7.35am local time (12.35pm BST), respectively, and the opening round would start at 8.50am local time (1.50pm BST), according to further announcements from the officials.
After one hour and fifty minutes, 2003 PGA winner Shaun Micheel hit the first shot off the tee at the par-4 first hole. A few minutes later, the first group began to play at the 10th hole.
Due to the delay, the first round won’t be finished before Thursday night, which means the later starters will need to come back on Friday morning to finish their rounds.
Will the weather still be a concern at Oak Hill?
As a result of Oak Hill’s location in upstate New York and the possibility of cold weather, the PGA Championship was shifted from late summer to May in 2019 after Oak Hill had already been selected as the venue.
Although there will certainly be rain on Saturday and severe winds for the remaining three days of the competition, no more frost delays are anticipated.
Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer for the PGA of America, said on Tuesday that the tournament, wherever it is held (in May), “appears to bring some more variety to the weather than we’re used to having when we played in August.”
For golf tournament, golf live score, golf championship, golf match today, latest golf news, golf daily score, golf championship live, golf updates live and other golf news follow Livematchupdates.com.
