High winds resulted in play being halted during the third round of the Genesis Invitational on Saturday. It was the first such stoppage on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews and first in the US for the tour since the third round of the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The horn didn’t sound soon enough for Keegan Bradley.
Starting his round on Riviera’s drivable 10th hole, Bradley hit his tee shot left of the green. Usually, it’s not a bad place to miss. But with a back pin and no angle to the flag, all he could do was pitch safely to 60 feet.
It turns out, there was no “safe” play.
Keegan Bradley had a wind-riddled adventure at 10 before the horn blew. pic.twitter.com/95YALbqG20
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) February 20, 2021
Thanks to the unfortunate combination of a slick putting surface and whipping winds, Bradley’s sweeping, right-to-left putt rolled within a few feet of the hole and kept on going.
“I don’t know how you’re going to play this hole,” Frank Nobilo, calling the action for Golf Channel, said as Bradley hit the putt. “It’s down breeze. You can’t lay up. There’s so much pitch in this green.”
Just then, Bradley’s ball tumbled off the green, a victim to the elements. Nobilo added that he’d never seen a putt do that.
A moment later, the horn sounded, pausing play. Players had the option to finish the hole and Bradley did, pitching to five feet and making the putt for bogey to put him one-over for the tournament.
Tough start.
The tour didn’t tweet about Bradley’s disaster, but it did share video of J.B. Holmes’ ball getting blown off the green before he was able to line up a putt.
Before the horn blew, J.B. Holmes' ball was seen moving on the green. pic.twitter.com/lUMkNXGztN
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1363187645694763009?s=20
