R&A defend decision to resume play on Saturday at the Open
Last Updated: 18/07/15 6:34pm
Tournament organisers at the 144th Open have been criticised for allowing play to resume in high winds on Saturday morning at St Andrews.
The 42 players who were unable to complete their second rounds on Friday night returned to the Old Course at 7am, but play was suspended again just 32 minutes after the resumption.
The more exposed parts of the course were the worst affected, with Brooks Koepka, John Senden and Tadahiro Takayama unable to attempt to putt on the 11th green as the balls were being blown around the putting surface by the strong gusts.
A furious Koepka revealed he had tried to convince a rules official for five minutes that conditions were unplayable before missing a par putt from six feet.
The 25-year-old said: "I was told I needed to play on and you've got to do what they tell you to do or you're disqualified and I didn't want to walk back to the clubhouse. I played on and we were told to stop at one point; I guess everybody else kept playing.
"It's unfortunate some guys had to play three holes and I'm only hitting one putt but we never should have started. I don't have a problem if it's breezy, but when it gets out of control like that it's not fair. The official in our group told me it was only me that was having the problem.
Koepka mad
"But I don't really care about everyone else; it's the most exposed part of the golf course and the ball is not staying on the green. I'm mad we started in the first place. A Monday finish doesn't bother me, as long as I finish, play well and hopefully hold the trophy."
Overnight leader Dustin Johnson also fell victim to the conditions when he returned to the 14th. After mishitting a pitch onto the green, his ball blew back off the putting surface before he had the chance to put down his marker.
The resulting bogey-six saw him slip into a share of the lead on nine-under with clubhouse leader Danny Willett, while playing partner Jordan Spieth left a birdie putt short at the same hole and took an angry swipe with his putter before he was heard to say: "We should never have started."
The world No 2 later told ESPN: "When you come over here you have to expect crazy situations and this is one of them. It is odd to hit shots 11 hours apart in the same day - that could be a little bit of a fortunate break if the wind dies down a bit.
"When we got out on the range until we were suspended it didn't seem the wind changed at all. If they (R&A) felt like there wasn't a problem then it was just unlucky, but from my point of view it didn't seem playable."
Gusts of wind increased in speed by 10-15 per cent after play resumed. This could not be foreseen at the time that play was restarted
R&A statement
England's Lee Westwood, who parred the 15th to remain at three under before play was halted, told Open TV: "I wouldn't say this is a particularly strong wind for a links course. You should be able to play in 40mph winds.
"When you do set the greens so fast this is likely to happen, especially on exposed greens."
Ian Poulter had three holes remaining when play resumed and felt he needed to birdie all three to make the cut, but he three-putted the 16th and had just hit his drive off the 17th tee before the suspension.
"The only difficult situation that arose from this morning was that only two putts were made on the 11th green while 32 minutes of play happened everywhere else," Poulter said. "Guys like myself played a hole and a half and other guys haven't hit a shot. Is that right or wrong? Most people would say that's wrong.
"Should they have cut holes 1-5 and 13-18 and not the rest? Should they have cut any greens at all? Louis (Oosthuizen) had a three-foot putt on 13, then he had a one-foot putt, then he had an eight-foot putt - and didn't touch the ball once. That's one of the greens that was cut.
"They (the R&A) don't want to make poor decisions and don't want us out there in these conditions. You can understand frustration from everybody really; fans, players and themselves that they've been put in this situation."
R&A defend decision
But the R&A defended their decision to send the players out at 7am, insisting all possible steps to assess the conditions were taken and it was only after play had started that conditions deteriorated.
"We spent an hour at the far end of the course, before play started, assessing whether the course was playable," said an R&A spokesman. "Balls were not moving on the greens and while the conditions were extremely difficult, we considered the golf course to be playable.
"Gusts of wind increased in speed by 10-15 per cent after play resumed. This could not be foreseen at the time that play was restarted and made a material difference to the playability of the golf course."
The R&A later announced that the tournament would be extended to a fifth day for only the second time in Open history, the first being in 1988 when Seve Ballesteros triumphed over Nick Faldo and Nick Price on a memorable Monday at Royal Lytham.
Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who finished his second round on Friday, had some sympathy for both his fellow players and the organisers.
"It was tough for the boys to go out in circus conditions a little bit this morning," he told ESPN. "In hindsight I guess it was the wrong decision as they only got half an hour but everyone wants the champion to walk up 18 on Sunday so they did their best."
