Rainy weather changes little for LIV Golf players
Abraham Ancer walked out to the practice green, looked to the gray skies still drizzling on Las Vegas Country Club and began his preparations for this week’s LIV Golf event.
It might be wet, but it’s business as usual for the 54 players teeing it up this week in the tour’s Las Vegas debut.
Rain kept players off the course Monday and most of Tuesday morning, and more rain is expected at times Wednesday. But the forecast remains relatively clear for Thursday through Saturday, when the 54-hole event takes place.
Crews had the course in good shape Tuesday following the worst of the storms. The most significant impact the weather will have on play is balls not rolling out, making the course play much longer than the 7,089 yards on the scorecard. But it also means softer greens, allowing players to go pin hunting without fear of big bounces that can be a regular feature of desert courses.
“Obviously the conditions around the course matter,” Caleb Surratt, a member of Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team, said of preparing to play when it’s wet. “But it’s just kind of the same process.”
Of more concern to players is the temperature, which shouldn’t get much higher than the low 50s throughout the tournament. Surratt said the impact is magnified after players spent last week outside Cancun, Mexico, where temperatures in the low 80s offered completely different conditions.
Should inclement weather arrive during tournament play, however, LIV Golf will benefit from its shotgun starts. Every player will be impacted by the same weather and the same number of holes played, should difficult conditions arrive or play has to be stopped.
LIV officials said grounds crews will work however long is necessary to keep the course playable, but that won’t be the same for spectators. Those planning to attend can expect soggy, muddy spots outside the ropes, particularly those planning to walk the course to follow particular players or groups.
Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.