Edison, NJ – With Hurricane Irene scheduled to touch down Sunday, the PGA Tour announced on Friday that The Barclays will be reduced to 54 holes.
The second round is expected to be completed on Friday, then the third and now final round will take place Saturday.
With suspect weather in the forecast Saturday evening, the plan is for the players to go out in threesomes off both the first and 10th tees for the final round, starting early in the morning. The intent is to complete play by 2:00 p.m. (et) Saturday.
In the event that storms prevent the completion of play on Saturday, the tournament will be cut down to 36 holes.
Since this is the first Playoff event for the FedExCup, no matter if the tournament is 54 holes or 36, the points will count. This championship is reserved for the top 125 on the FedExCup points list and next week, the field gets shrunk down to the top 100.
"We weighed all the options available to us, and under normal circumstances, we would obviously prefer to complete 72 holes," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. "That's even more true here at The Barclays, considering that this is such an important event to our players as they look to advance through the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup.
"But these aren't normal circumstances. We realize that 'waiting it out' until Hurricane Irene passes and trying to play golf on Monday or Tuesday would only add unnecessary strain to those who will be trying to help the community recover from whatever potential damage this storm causes. The safety of the community, our fans, players, sponsor guests, television partners and staff is of the utmost importance."
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