NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. _ After waiting for a long day of rain to stop, PGA Tour officials decided Sunday to postpone the final round of the BMW Championships at Aronimink Golf Club until Monday.
A steady rain at the club in Newtown Square increased in intensity as the afternoon continued, leaving officials with no choice but to extend the FedExCup playoff event back one day.
The forecast for Monday is for more rain. Slugger White, the tour's vice president for rules and competitions, said the plan was to "do everything we can to play."
Joe Halvorson, a meteorologist for the PGA Tour, said that a window to conduct play Monday exists from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. after a warm front lifts north of the area. He said scattered lighter showers are still a possibility during that time, but that thunderstorms will start to develop after 2 p.m.
The tournament ended Saturday with Justin Rose at 17-under-par 193 and holding a one-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.
Halvorson said one inch of rain fell from the overnight hours up to the time of the 2 p.m. decision not to play. He said the rain that fell overnight was more than originally forecast and that the course was saturated by the time play was scheduled to start.
White said every effort would be made to complete 72 holes, especially because players who are outside the top 30 of the FedExCup's points list want one more chance to make it. The top 30 continue to the final playoff event, the Tour Championship, which begins Sept. 20.
"I'm sure you'll see guys who are 30, 31, 32 on that list for two weeks from now, they all want to play," he said. "And we want them to play, believe me. We're going to do the best we can."
