COLORADO SPRINGS — The most successful female at Thursday’s U.S. Women’s Open was Mother Nature.
She triumphantly interrupted a major with thunder and lightning — allowing only 25 of the 156 golfers to finish their first round — and play will resume at 7:45 a.m. today at The Broadmoor (Mother Nature was unavailable for comment).
“It’s not good for anybody, really,” said golfer Cindy LaCrosse, who had the cruel luck of being on No. 18 when play was suspended at 12:47 p.m.
LaCrosse had birdied both 16 and 17 — “I had some momentum going, but it is what it is,” she said — but now has to play 18 this morning . . . and then wait until the early evening to start her second round.
“It’s just like a new day. I’ll do my full warm-up (Friday) morning and then I’ll just have the one hole,” said LaCrosse, who currently is tied for sixth at even-par, two behind the leaders.
Contingency plans
Wearing a drenched USGA jacket, tournament director Ben Kimball said today’s first wave of second-round golfers will begin at 1:30 p.m. — “if Mother Nature is friendly to us.” He said the second wave wouldn’t begin until 7 p.m.
“You’re probably wondering, well, are we going to have any daylight?” Kimball asked aloud. “Well, we’re probably not, so it looks like Round 2 will continue over into Saturday, and then we’ll make our cut and move into Round 3 at that point.
“Is there a chance of scattered thunderstorms (Friday)? Absolutely. Is that percentage as high as it was today? It’s not. But, you know, you just never know. I think once we get to Saturday, Sunday, I think those are going to be our best days. If we can get through tomorrow without anything, I think we’ll be home free.”
They might have to get creative. Kimball said the USGA might consider a two-tee start in the final two rounds, with golfers at the first and 10th holes. And they’ll also consider threesomes instead of twosomes.
“We’re already playing catch-up at this point,” Kimball said. “We just hope for a break.”
When the horn sounded Thursday, players scurried to the clubhouse and “it was just a zoo,” said golfer Amy Anderson, who is currently tied for the lead at 2-under. Some frustrated players felt the day had been called off prematurely (but thunder indeed rolled all afternoon). Other players patiently had a light lunch, anticipating a return to the course. LaCrosse and some others played card games to pass the time.
“I lost terribly,” said LaCrosse, who seemed to fare better on the fairways.
Anderson, an amateur in her first U.S. Women’s Open, put a positive spin on the weather.
“You know what? Actually, I like the rain because it’s going to soften the course, make it a little easier to score,” Anderson said. “But, yeah, the momentum, it does certainly slow that down. I wanted to keep going, at least wanted to finish out my putting on 13, but I guess you can’t really control the weather.”
Par for the course
Like any annual tournament played in different cities, the U.S. Women’s Open has dealt with weather issues in the past, most famously in 1987. Rain in Plainfield, N.J., pushed the fourth round to Monday, and then the tournament went to an 18-hole playoff on Tuesday, eventually won by Laura Davies.
On Thursday at The Broadmoor, after play was called at 3:11 p.m., a few key players were brought out to a small stage to speak to the media. Cristie Kerr, tied with Anderson for the early lead, answered questions while the sky went from drab to dreary. Kerr will resume play today on the seventh hole, her 15th.
“At least I will get to practice some long bunker shots before we go out,” she said, “so maybe it’s a good thing for me.
“This is my 15th year on tour. This kind of stuff happens all the time. You have to kind of roll with the punches.”
Then, she looked up in the sky and spoke directly to the reporters:
“I think we need to hurry up because I think the lightning is moving in a little bit.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
