Whenever the PGA Tour suspends play due to weather, heavy rain, thunder, and lightning are usually involved.
But on Thursday at Torrey Pines, the infamous Southern California winds reached a point of no return — the tour had to stop the second round as gusts exceeded 35 miles per hour. Balls began to move on the greens, and tournament officials have no choice but to sound the horn whenever that happens.
Thursday’s scoring averages reflect how difficult conditions became too. On the South Course, which has hosted the U.S. Open twice, players averaged 75.430, more than three shots higher than what players averaged during Round 1 (72.360). The same mantra applies to the easier North Course. On Thursday, scores averaged 75.570 on the North, while Wednesday’s first round produced a scoring average of 70.220 — a massive five-shot difference rarely seen.
“I don’t know if I have ever played Torrey in this much wind before,” said Joel Dahmen during a walk-and-talk interview on the Golf Channel broadcast.
“We have Santa Ana winds coming in from the east, and every now and then, we get a switch off the ocean, which has been super strange today. Really difficult to plan and this is just survival mode out here today.”
Only 49 players of this 156-player field are under par and just 15 players have completed 36 holes as of the suspension. Ludvig Åberg still leads, but he is 2-over through 12 holes on the South Course. The Swede fired a 9-under 63 on the North Course on Wednesday to sit atop the leaderboard by himself.
Tournament officials have not yet announced when play will resume.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
