FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- If you thought last year's U.S. Open lasted a good long while, with Tiger Woods requiring an extra day and 91 holes to finally win the title on a Monday, this year might just eclipse that mark.
Not in total holes, but in hours logged.
Rain washed out most of the first round at the 109th U.S. Open on Thursday at Bethpage State Park, and the long-range forecast, like the name of the host course itself, is decidedly Black.
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No player had completed more than 11 holes when play was suspended at 10:15 a.m., then ultimately called for the day, creating a traffic jam of backed-up players that would be enough of a logistics hurdle itself. But even more rain is on the horizon, to the degree that forecasts can be trusted hereabouts, anyway.
"I would tell you the weather forecast for tomorrow is possibly more, some lingering rain into tomorrow morning," USGA official Jim Hyler said last Thursday afternoon. "But we think [Friday] will be a decent day. Saturday is more problematic, and the words our weather people are using are, 'sort of like today.' "So, Saturday does not look good and then there's a possibility of rain, more rain, not like this, but more rain on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of next week. So we're just ...."
Hyler paused, searching for the optimal back end of his sentence.
Everybody in the room could supply the missing word: screwed.
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Outside of filling in the blanks, the only activity after the weather suspension began was the inevitable yin-and-yang question about whether the delay was detrimental or helpful to those who did, or didn't, begin their round.
Padraig Harrington was asked that question as he stood in the player parking lot, rain dumping down on his head, and actually laughed. To him, the answer was obvious. Then again, he's 4 over through six holes.
"I don't think there's a guy who hasn't teed off that is not sitting very happy in his hotel room right now, or maybe at the cinema watching a movie or something like that, who isn't particularly happy about not playing, or gloating," Harrington said.
"That's the nature of the game. You are going to get bad breaks, you are going to get the wrong side of the draw. Who knows what the next three days are going to bring, or the next four or five days are going to bring?"
There's nothing funny about that last part, Paddy. If they don't finish this thing soon, you won't be able to defend your British Open title next month in Scotland.
The players who were on the course will begin anew on Friday at 7:30 a.m., with the practice areas opening at 6. Weather permitting, Round 2 will begin at 4 p.m. Beyond that, why bother planning?
"Our meteorologists are telling us that it is very likely that we can get another inch plus of rain on Saturday," said Mike Davis, who handles the USGA course set-up. "We all know how this golf course is right now. So the question is just how playable the golf course is."
Yeah, we do. The best way to navigate the fairways at the moment is by using the Australian Crawl. Then, as if some of us weren't shivering enough already from the wet, wind and cold, he really made us shudder.
"But an ideal goal would be to get Round 2 finished by Saturday," he said. "But based on that weather forecast, that's not looking terribly promising."
The last time an Open finished on a Monday when a playoff wasn't involved was in 1983 at Oakmont.
Given the unpredictable nature of forecasting hereabouts, not everybody was ready to concede that Harrington was spot on. Steve Stricker, another favorite this week, played seven holes and was 1 over, same as Woods, who had completed six holes. The four co-leaders, none of whom had completed more than 11 holes, were 1 under.
"Who knows, it could be miserable again tomorrow," Stricker said, noting that having played much of his round Thursday would then have proven advantageous.
Woods was glad to have gotten started too.
"It was a good decision to play today," Woods said. "We had to get in as many holes as we could. We probably played more holes than we thought."
Then they had to kill more than 3½ hours before they were sent home as play was formally suspended for the day. There wasn't even universal agreement on how to accomplish that feat.
Harrington found a quiet spot in the trainer's area, curled up and took a nap. World No. 3 Paul Casey drank coffee for nearly four hours and cracked, "so it's probably a good thing I'm not going back out there."
The fan walking corridors had become muddy sinkholes. Maneuvering around over the next few days as a spectator is going to be tougher than playing. Jim Furyk, another favorite, completed five holes and was amazed they logged that many.
"There were guys squeegeeing the fairway on 13, that's how bad it was getting," Furyk said. "They must have a lot of volunteers out here, because they kept the course playable as long as they could."
Trying to predict who might win the tournament is an annual rite of futility at the U.S. Open. Forecasting the weather has become an even bigger flight of fancy. The only certainty going forward this week at the Black is the uncertainty.
"It could be the same thing [Friday]," Woods said. "It's a long day. Who knows, we may not start on time if we get more rain tonight. I just have to be ready at 7:30."
