Water, Water Everywhere

By Greg Midland

As the noon hour approaches here at Bethpage, play has been suspended for more than 90 minutes and there has been no let-up in the nasty weather. Sheets of rain and occasional gusty wind is combining to make it miserable for the spectators, many of whom are taking cover in the merchandise tent. So between memorabilia and beer sales, it could turn out to be a profitable rain delay for the USGA!

Still, they'd obviously much rather be playing golf. I arrived here at 8:15 this morning and caught up to Tiger, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington on the fifth hole -- where both Tiger and Harrington made double bogey. Tiger then curled in a nice birdie putt on the sixth green, and the crowd roared its approval. It was at that moment that the rain started picking up, and by the time the group reached the seventh green, the horn had blown. Tiger and Cabrera elected to play their bunker shots onto the seventh green and mark their balls there.

Walking back to the media center was a slog. Mud is everywhere out here -- if you're going to come out any of the remaining days, waterproof shoes are a plus. Right now, the greens have rivers of water running through them and the fairways are puddling up. If it stops raining, the maintenance staff will need at least an hour and a half to get the course playable again. Stay tuned.