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Viking Classic postponed at least until Sunday

October 30, 2009

MADISON, Miss. (AP)—PGA Tour officials have postponed the Viking Classic untilat least Sunday and will evaluate the course Saturday before making a decisionon when or if the tournament will be held.

Heavy rain this week has left standing water and tracts of mud all over thecourse. Officials said in a late afternoon news conference that they didn’t wantto speculate on what could be done with the tournament.

Earlier in the day, though, they said possibilities include postponing thefull event until next week or weekend, shortening it to 36 holes and starting itmidweek, or outright cancellation.

That final choice seemed to grow more likely as a fresh round ofthunderstorms drenched central Mississippi on Friday.

Viking Viking Classic golf tournament… AP – Oct 30, 7:10 pm EDT PGA Tour rules official Slugge… AP – Oct 30, 7:09 pm EDT PGA Tour rules official Slugge… AP – Oct 30, 7:08 pm EDT A heron seems undisturbed that… AP – Oct 30, 3:02 pm EDT Pro golfer Jeff Quinney, left,… AP – Oct 30, 2:54 pm EDT Wil Collins scrubs mud from hi… AP – Oct 30, 2:54 pm EDT Diehard golf fans brave the ra… AP – Oct 30, 2:09 pm EDT David Duval works on his putti… AP – Oct 30, 12:03 pm EDT Todd Hamilton cleans his club … AP – Oct 30, 12:02 pm EDT Chad Campbell bounces his golf… AP – Oct 30, 12:02 pm EDT Viking Classic golf tournament… AP – Oct 30, 12:01 pm EDT YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index = 10; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_lazy_images = [http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.ce4582a49499444997346f9b1c96086b.viking_classic_golf_msrs119.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=83&yc=1&wc=246&hc=273&q=70&sig=ks76tcAl.2n7FZ9NYaSrww--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.b967b059f9c24ffeafccc88cfc0fcdb2.viking_classic_golf_msrs118.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=261&hc=290&q=70&sig=ECrRjeHOyvj51rNzG1GfhQ--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.bb659c71b10449e083fb08948320b97f.viking_classic_golf_msrs112.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=183&hc=203&q=70&sig=nvegiDT.cjhqTR8ITtlinw--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.ab3219ce5fbc4c0da1de255ac39beee4.viking_classic_golf_msrs111.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=265&hc=294&q=70&sig=mbE8zLL6AX3CJHiYtabwmQ--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.e1f404d953bf4dff924ce79190c35c1a.viking_classic_golf_msrs110.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=51&yc=1&wc=311&hc=345&q=70&sig=74pRiKCnIsM5a5BNCUv3gw--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.9a83fc002da64569b3bd55a5f0e0b147.viking_classic_golf_msrs109.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=81&yc=1&wc=249&hc=277&q=70&sig=MEJIs64nvCIZO6xvYrI7fQ--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.005fea07a9c8476690cad4271253424d.viking_classic_golf_msrs103.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=230&hc=256&q=70&sig=sd6EzNRusac5AlDAn7cjHg--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.7523befbcd844444b75d427461c45a96.viking_classic_golf_msrs102.jpg?x=168&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=168&hc=200&q=70&sig=H21EDdyy2mFOEbYQt9EVpw--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.e7e6d15e9d1644c780eb59476e26022d.viking_classic_golf_msrs105.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=228&hc=253&q=70&sig=.K08v46Zu81rvesWKFsDag--,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091030/capt.aa99fcacfd794f9bb578496aac6ef10b.viking_classic_golf_msrs106.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=219&hc=243&q=70&sig=IdqNY7iE_yppi2Xl8ktmWQ--]; YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window,load,YAHOO.Sports.articleLazyLoadCarousel.init); 1 of 11 Golf Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();

“It’s just a mess,” said Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president forrules and competition. “If we get this rain (today), I don’t know when thisplace will dry.”

Shortly after White spoke Friday morning, temperatures dropped 15 degreesand heavy rain began to fall as a cold front moved through the area. It issupposed to start clearing Saturday, but that doesn’t mean Annandale Golf Clubwill have a course that’s ready to play.

It’s already saturated after two months of steady rain, and players reportedstanding water and large areas of mud.

Weather hasn’t forced the cancellation of a PGA Tour event since April 1991in Houston. And officials haven’t had to postpone consecutive rounds since thefirst two days of the 2005 BellSouth Classic, which was scaled back to 54 holes.

The fairways at Annandale are so waterlogged, White said six to seven holeswould have to be shortened from par 4s to par 3s because of fairway conditions.

The tournament could be moved to next weekend or rescheduled, White said,but that ruling would have to come from commissioner Tim Finchem.

It’s an important event for several players fighting to get inside the top125 on the money list and keep their exempt status for next year. There’s onlyone more Fall Series tournament left after the Viking Classic.

Among those is Rickie Fowler, the 20-year-old who lost in a three-manplayoff in Arizona last week at the Frys.com Open and is trying to earn enoughmoney to avoid going to Q-school. Fowler got into the Viking Classic based onhis top-10 finish last week.

White said Friday night that if the Viking Classic were canceled orrescheduled, Fowler and Jamie Lovemark—who also was part of the playoff lastweek—would be able to use their top 10 to get into Disney, the final FallSeries event.

Lovemark could not use his exemption this week because he had to go throughthe first stage of Q-school, where he easily advanced on Friday in NorthCarolina.

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed to this report.

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Written by chris · Filed Under PGA Golf 

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