The Gleneagles Scottish Professional Championship will be reduced to just 36 holes for the first time in nearly half a century as rain continued to disrupt play on the King’s Course yesterday.
With Sunday already lost to the weather and the event re-scheduled for 54 holes, heavy rain closed in again yesterday morning and curtailed the delayed second round at 11.30 am with 30 players still on the course.
Play was unable to restart and it’s regarded by Scottish PGA officials as “impractical” to play a final round with a cut still to be made and most players requiring to be recalled to the course.
There is some excitement at Gleneagles to be had this morning with play starting at 9 am and former Open champion Paul Lawrie still having a chance of winning of a third Scottish title.
Lawrie was one of those left unfinished yesterday and has five holes to complete, but needs to make up three shots to get into a play-off with Chris Kelly and Paul McKechnie to determine the title. The play-off will commence on the 18th of the King’s once the second round is completed.
It will be the first time the championship which will be staged for the 100th time next year has been reduced to 36 holes since 1966, when Eric Brown and John Panton shared the title.
Lawrie was hoping for a decent warm-up ahead of next week’s Spanish Open but instead was unable to complete 36 holes over the first three days.
He is level par for the championship on the 14th fairway, three behind the leaders Kelly who finished his second round on Monday night and McKechnie.
“I’ve hit a rescue club from the tee at the (short par four) 14th because you couldn’t carry the bunkers in front of the green with a driver,” he said. “Yesterday (Monday) I drove it through the green.
“It was really impossible by the time we got to the 12th. You couldn’t hold a club, it was freezing cold and my brolly broke as well.”
Just how tough the weather became yesterday morning was best illustrated by Greig Hutcheon, who was seven-under and leading the championship on the 7th tee of his second round and then lost 15 strokes in nine holes, including a nine at the 14th, as the rain and wind worsened.
“I took a three-iron at the 14th for safety, lost it, took another three-iron and lost that as well, hit another into the trees but found it,” said the 1999 and 2013 champion ruefully. “You couldn’t hold the club it was so cold, but I was still trying my hardest on every shot.”
The disruption has meant that those finishing early yesterday morning or on Monday night like the two leaders on three-under have enjoyed a huge advantage.
Kelly, the winner of the championship on the PGA Centenary Course in 2003, completed his five-under second round 66 in the benign conditions of Monday night having played 36 holes in the day. Braid Hills’ McKechnie, who added a 69 to his opening round 70, had only three holes to finish yesterday morning when play resumed at 7 am.
Defending champion Gareth Wright was left in what is currently third place, having to play 10 holes in yesterday’s storm but still coming in with a two-under 69 to be on that mark for the championship.
Leading completed second round scores (30 players still to finish their rounds after play was suspended due to bad weather)
139 C Kelly (unattached) 73 66, P McKechnie (Braid Hills GC) 70 69
140 G Wright (West Linton) 71 69
141 J Lomas (Caprington) 71 70, D Orr (Eastwood) 67 74
142 A Oldcorn (Kings Acre) 71 71, G Fox (Clydeway Golf) 69 73
143 M Hillson (Tandridge) 75 68, G McBain (Paul Lawrie GC) 73 70, C Sutherland (Cherry Lodge) 70 73
144 M Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy) 72 72, S Binning (Mearns Castle) 67 77, K McNicoll (Gullane) 70 74
145 S Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 73 72
146 R Drummond (unatt) 77 69, A Mackrell (Playsport) 76 70, A Duncan (Golf Moray) 71 75, S Williamson (Clydeway Golf) 72 74, C Robinson (Elie Links) 72 74, S Gray (Hayston) 72 74
148 A Good (Gullane) 72 76, K Hutton (Downfield) 72 76, G Dingwall (Royal Dornoch) 72 76, P Shields (Kirkhill) 74 74, B Marchbank (unatt) 74 74, P Wardell (North Berwick) 74 74.
Other scores included
149 S Herald (St Andrews Links Golf Academy) 77 72
150 F Dunlop (Gleneagles Hotel) 71 79
151 M Mackenzie (Edzell) 74 77
152 H MacRae (Gleneagles Hotel) 79 73, L Vannet (Craibstone) 77 75
153 G Forrester (St Andrews Golf Schools) 75 78
155 S McLaren (Blairgowrie) 77 78
156 P Walker (Ballumbie Castle) 76 80
157 F Robertson (Lundin) 81 76, R Tinker (Piperdam) 79 78
159 A McDonald (Dunnikier Park) 80 79
160 G Cook (Elie Links) 78 82
162 A McCandlish (Kingsbarns) 81 81, A Jowett (Gleneagles Hotel) 80 82, F Cramb (Crieff) 82 80, N Cameron (Blairgowrie) 81 81
163 A McHardy (Noah’s Ark) 78 85.