Share

Winds wreck havoc at Humana

La Quinta - The Humana Challenge suspended play midway through the third round after high winds caused damage on all three courses, toppling trees, blowing balls off the greens and knocking a scoreboard into a lake on Saturday.

The tournament will resume third-round play on Sunday with Mark Wilson holding a three-stroke lead over Ben Crane.

The pro-am tournament reported no injuries, but called an early halt after 35-mph (55-kph) winds rampaged across the Palm Springs area in the early afternoon. The amateur players, including former President Bill Clinton, won't get to finish their rounds on Sunday.

"It's really bad," said Slugger White, the US PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competitions. "They've got a lot of trees down. It's a real mess. ... We knew (the wind) was going to be bad, but we thought it would be something we could play with, and then the bottom fell out."

White said he believes they can finish the four-round event on Sunday "in a perfect world." Wilson doubts it after ferocious gusts interrupted a previously perfect weekend of Palm Springs weather.

"It's amazing how it happened so quickly, but we've seen it before," said Wilson, who's at 21 under for the tournament after going 5 under through 15 holes at the La Quinta Country Club course, which sustained the most damage. "I think they made the right call. You don't want to see anybody get hurt."

Most of the golfers were past the turn in the third round when kicked up, blowing balls around the course, sending a large scoreboard into a lake on the Palmer Private course and wrecking an awning in the Bob Hope Square fan area. Several trees were toppled at the La Quinta course, while the other two courses had only cosmetic damage and blowing debris.

White said the grounds crews would use chainsaws to remove the fallen trees at La Quinta.

Clinton and Greg Norman had just hit their tee shots on the 10th hole of the Palmer Private course when play was suspended. A short time later, a scoreboard blew into the lake that's flanked by the 10th and 18th holes.

Wilson was a co-leader after two rounds with Crane and David Toms, who dropped back to 15 under. Zach Johnson moved within four strokes of the lead after going 6 under through 13 holes.

"We knew there was wind in the forecast, but I've never really experienced anything like that," Johnson said. "Not that quick and that fierce and that intense in that amount of time."

Until the wind kicked up, extremely low scores had dominated the first two days. Robert Garrigus jumped into contention Saturday by making nine birdies in 13 holes on the Nicklaus Private course before play was suspended.

Garrigus joined John Mallinger and John Senden at 16 under, five strokes behind Wilson.

Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer's grandson, made a hole-in-one on the fifth hole of the Palmer course.

White believes it might be possible to finish the event on time. Most players are staying in Southern California next week for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

"I don't know how they could get it done tomorrow, but more power to them if they do," Wilson said.

Scores from the US PGA Tour Humana Challenge at the par-72 course on Saturday in La Quinta, California:

Round 3 has been suspended with no players having finished their round.

Holes played rounds -21 Mark Wilson (U.S.) 51 66 62 -18 Ben Crane (U.S.) 48 65 63 -17 Zach Johnson (U.S.) 49 68 65 -16 John Mallinger (U.S.) 50 67 65
Robert Garrigus (U.S.) 49 73 64
John Senden (Australia) 47 69 64 -15 Jason Dufner (U.S.) 53 71 63
David Toms (U.S.) 47 63 65
Chris Kirk (U.S.) 45 68 63 -14 Jarrod Lyle (Australia) 51 68 67
Tommy Biershenk (U.S.) 48 68 64
Brendon Todd (U.S.) 48 66 67
Steve Marino (U.S.) 48 65 68 -13 Bobby Gates (U.S.) 51 68 63
Chris DiMarco (U.S.) 50 68 64
Kevin Chappell (U.S.) 50 65 68
Harris English (U.S.) 46 69 62
Ryan Moore (U.S.) 45 72 61
Brandt Snedeker (U.S.) 43 64 68 -12 Martin Laird (Britain) 49 66 69
Johnson Wagner (U.S.) 49 68 67
Bud Cauley (U.S.) 48 66 67
Stephen Ames (Canada) 46 66 67 -11 Brett Quigley (U.S.) 53 67 68
Charles Howell III (U.S.) 51 69 70
Lee Janzen (U.S.) 46 69 66
Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 46 63 68
Miguel Carballo (Argentina) 46 69 66 -10 Brendon De Jonge (Zimbabwe) 53 65 71
Bob Estes (U.S.) 51 64 70
Cameron Tringale (U.S.) 49 68 64
Jeff Maggert (U.S.) 47 69 65
Ted Potter Jr. (U.S.) 44 64 73
Kevin Sutherland (U.S.) 44 69 68 -9 Spencer Levin (U.S.) 53 68 67
John Rollins (U.S.) 51 68 68
William McGirt (U.S.) 50 67 71
Joe Durant (U.S.) 50 68 71
Kyle Reifers (U.S.) 49 69 69
Ken Duke (U.S.) 48 67 65
Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 47 68 68
Brian Harman (U.S.) 46 69 69
Pat Perez (U.S.) 46 67 67
Jamie Lovemark (U.S.) 45 68 68
Bae Sang-Moon (South Korea) 44 64 69 -8 James Driscoll (U.S.) 50 69 70
Roberto Castro (U.S.) 50 68 70
Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 49 71 70
Kevin Kisner (U.S.) 48 68 73
Kevin Na (U.S.) 47 66 68
Jimmy Walker (U.S.) 47 70 66
Jason Bohn (U.S.) 47 68 70
Kevin Streelman (U.S.) 46 70 66
Brian Gay (U.S.) 45 69 68
Gary Christian (Britain) 45 66 68
Paul Goydos (U.S.) 45 70 69
Justin Leonard (U.S.) 45 69 68
Danny Lee (New Zealand) 45 69 69
Josh Teater (U.S.) 44 71 66
Michael Thompson (U.S.) 42 71 67 -7 Matt Bettencourt (U.S.) 51 68 70
Cameron Beckman (U.S.) 50 69 70
Nick O'Hern (Australia) 50 68 70
Bo Van Pelt (U.S.) 49 67 71
Blake Adams (U.S.) 48 66 71
Noh Seung-Yul (South Korea) 47 65 70
Marco Dawson (U.S.) 47 72 70
Erik Compton (U.S.) 44 67 69 -6 Chez Reavie (U.S.) 51 70 70
George McNeill (U.S.) 50 73 65
Jeff Overton (U.S.) 49 67 70
Ricky Barnes (U.S.) 48 68 69
Brendan Steele (U.S.) 47 70 69
Hunter Haas (U.S.) 46 72 68
Matt Kuchar (U.S.) 46 71 67
Troy Kelly (U.S.) 45 71 70
Michael Bradley (U.S.) 44 67 67 -5 Ryan Palmer (U.S.) 53 69 71
Brandt Jobe (U.S.) 52 69 74
Chad Campbell (U.S.) 52 71 65
Stuart Appleby (Australia) 51 71 68
Harrison Frazar (U.S.) 51 68 68
Mathew Goggin (Australia) 50 65 73
Scott Brown (U.S.) 50 69 70
Joe Ogilvie (U.S.) 50 70 69
Kyle Thompson (U.S.) 48 69 71
Charlie Beljan (U.S.) 48 71 69
Vaughn Taylor (U.S.) 48 69 68
Phil Mickelson (U.S.) 48 74 69
Charley Hoffman (U.S.) 48 70 71
Arjun Atwal (India) 47 70 68
Derek Lamely (U.S.) 44 68 71
Bill Haas (U.S.) 43 71 69
Chad Collins (U.S.) 43 65 74
Briny Baird (U.S.) 42 70 67 -4 Kyle Stanley (U.S.) 53 68 72
Tom Pernice Jr. (U.S.) 52 72 71
Greg Chalmers (Australia) 49 71 68
Tom Gillis (U.S.) 49 69 72
David Hearn (Canada) 48 68 69
Chris Stroud (U.S.) 47 70 70
Kris Blanks (U.S.) 47 71 69
Richard Lee (U.S.) 46 74 67
Jerry Kelly (U.S.) 46 71 70
Russell Knox (Britain) 45 72 66
Jason Kokrak (U.S.) 45 68 66
John Merrick (U.S.) 44 69 71
Kang Sung-Hoon (South Korea) 44 72 67 -3 Chris Couch (U.S.) 49 74 68
Troy Matteson (U.S.) 49 71 65
Ryuji Imada (Japan) 48 68 69
Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) 48 70 72
D.J. Trahan (U.S.) 46 71 68
Rocco Mediate (U.S.) 45 71 69 -2 Brian Davis (Britain) 51 70 72
Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 51 73 71
Bryce Molder (U.S.) 50 71 69
J.J. Henry (U.S.) 50 71 72
Keith Fergus (U.S.) 49 73 69
Anthony Kim (U.S.) 46 70 70
Charlie Wi (South Korea) 46 71 71 -1 Rod Pampling (Australia) 50 71 69
Tommy Gainey (U.S.) 50 70 72
Stephen Gangluff (U.S.) 45 69 73
Billy Mayfair (U.S.) 44 69 71 0 Sam Saunders (U.S.) 51 73 76
Steve Elkington (Australia) 47 69 72
Scott Piercy (U.S.) 45 70 72 1 Greg Norman (Australia) 45 72 71 2 Gavin Coles (Australia)

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
64% - 471 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
36% - 262 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE