• Heavy rain halts play in Volvo Masters


    01 November 2008

    It may not rain very often on the Costa del Sol but when it does rain, it really rains. After a steady downpour overnight that intensified in the morning, play in the second round of the Volvo Masters was suspended at 12.08pm before being stopped at 3.02pm. By which time only three of the field’s 57 competitors had completed their rounds — Justin Rose (81), Álvaro Quirós (76) and Nick Dougherty (73).

    The aim now at the season-ending event on the European Tour is to complete the second round by sending the players out in three balls from two tees starting at 8.30am today. This is expected to take about five hours to complete and, weather permitting, the third round will follow.

    The forecast, however, is not promising. “We had warning of one bad weather front moving through the area yesterday morning followed by a break before another bad weather front hit us,” David Garland, the tour’s director of operations and also the tournament director, said. “But when the two fronts combined the course became unplayable. If we have good weather then we should finish by Sunday. However, if only a few rounds remain to be played on Sunday night then we will finish on Monday. We will not schedule a full round for Monday.”

    Rose withdrew after his second round to fly to South Africa where his grandfather died on Thursday night. Miguel Ángel Jiménez, one of four men with a chance of winning the Order of Merit, must have wished the second round had been scrapped. Having started 5, 6, 4, 8, he was seven over par for his first four holes and nine over par overall. Robert Karlsson was three over par after four holes, Padraig Harrington five over after 13. Lee Westwood has not started his round.

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