anytime PGA Tour suspends play The weather usually brings heavy rain, lightning, and lightning strikes.
But at Torrey Pines on Thursday, the Tour had to cancel the second round as the infamous Southern California winds reached the point of no return, with gusts exceeding 55 mph. The ball started moving on the greeneach time the tournament official has no choice but to honk the horn.
Thursday's average score reflects how difficult the conditions have become. At the South Course, which has hosted two U.S. Opens, players averaged 75.430 strokes, more than three strokes higher than the average number of strokes in the first round (72.360). The same idea applies to the easier Nordschleife. North's average score on Thursday was 75.570, but Wednesday's average score in the first round was 70.220, a five-stroke difference that is rarely seen.
“I don't know if I've ever played Torrey in winds this strong,” he said. Joel Damen during a walking and talking interview Broadcast on Golf Channel.
“The Santa Ana winds are coming from the east and sometimes they switch in from the ocean, but today was very weird. It's really hard to plan and this is just survival mode here today.”
At the time of the suspension, only 49 players out of this 156-player field were below par and only 15 players had completed 36 holes. Ludwig Oberg still leads, but is 2 over after 12 holes on the South Course. The Swede shot a 9-under 63 on the Nordschleife on Wednesday to sit alone at the top of the leaderboard.
Tournament officials have not yet announced when play will resume.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
