Springfield, N.J. – Phil Mickelson has slept on at least a share of the lead after every round of the 87th PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
He didn’t count on having to do that one more time, however.
For the first time since 1986, the PGA will require a Monday finish because of weather problems. Play is scheduled to begin today at 8:05 a.m. MDT.
The fourth round was suspended for the second time Sunday at 6:35 p.m. local time, moments after a lightning bolt flashed in the northern sky.
A few minutes later, the PGA of America announced the final round of the year’s final major would be pushed back a day. Players who were taken off the course unanimously agreed with the decision.
“Look, I love this championship, but I want to live,” Mickelson told reporters.
Mickelson, bidding for his second major championship, stands 4-under par through 67 holes and holds a one-stroke lead over Australia’s Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark. Mickelson has a 2-foot par putt remaining on No. 14. Elkington and Bjorn were among 12 players on the course when the horn sounded.
Tiger Woods stood as the leader in the clubhouse at 2-under 278. But the only two par-5 holes on the course (Nos. 17 and 18) remain for those atop the leaderboard, so Woods did not expect his posted score to stand up.
“I felt if I shot 66 today, with the way the wind was blowing, that would be a really good number to post early,” Woods said.
Winds kicked up late in the afternoon in advance of the storm and made playing conditions more difficult. Woods was the only player among the top six who stood under par for the round.
The weather forecast for this morning calls for cooler temperatures with only a possibility of scattered showers.
“This is a tremendous advantage,” Mickelson said of finishing his round today. “We get a few extra holes to play in hopefully calm weather. And hopefully some rain (overnight) will soften up (the greens) a little bit.”
Fifteen minutes before the final twosome of Mickelson and Davis Love III was scheduled to begin play, horns sounded. Play was suspended for 39 minutes because of the threat of bad weather.
The mid-afternoon starting time allowed little room to accommodate delays. After the horns sounded a second time, Mickelson figured there was no way the fourth round would be completed Sunday.
Thunderstorms had been in the Sunday forecast, causing many to wonder why the starting times weren’t moved up.
“I had certainly asked to maybe go an hour earlier,” Mickelson said. “I thought (Saturday) night, it was a bit of a struggle to see in the light in the last three or four holes.”
Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America’s managing director of tournaments, said the fourth- round tee times were not moved up because of a commitment to CBS for a finish of 7 p.m. EDT.
“The forecast all week long has been for scattered storms,” Haigh said. “We’ve been fortunate up until now. They can come at any time.”
Suspending play gave several players an opportunity to regroup and finish strong.
Mickelson, who began the day in a tie with Love at 6-under, let a three-stroke lead disappear when he bogeyed four of five holes Sunday, beginning with a lipped-out par putt from 7 feet on No. 6.
Elkington capitalized on Mickelson’s troubles and took a two-stroke lead with a birdie on No. 11. But he bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15 to drop a stroke behind Mickelson.
Love shot an ugly 4-over 38 on the front nine and has only one birdie: a 15-footer on No. 10. Bjorn stands 2-over for his round. And others, including Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen, also lost ground.
“My mind-set is I’ll probably be the first one with a chance to post a score better than Tiger’s,” Elkington said. “Hopefully it’s about 5-under.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
