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Opening day washed out

Friday's opening round of the LPGA Champions Classic was cancelled due to thunderstorms. The event has been shortened to 36 holes and the few scores posted on Friday will not count.

The entire field of 140 players will play Saturday and Sunday, with the top 70 scores and ties after the two rounds earning official money. The players will tee off Saturday in the original pairings and times from Friday.

The poor weather forced Friday's play to begin at 9 a.m. (et), 90 minutes later than the scheduled start time. Lighting chased the players from the course at the Country Club of the North at 11:15 a.m. (et), and the storms that followed rendered the course unplayable.

"The golf course is under water, and the threat for severe weather is pretty imminent," said LPGA Tour rules official Jim Haley. "It's still lightning and there will be heavy rain all afternoon and into the evening."

"It's difficult with a 54-hole event when something like this happens," said Annika Sorenstam, the current LPGA money leader who captured the title here last year. "The course is unplayable, so I agree with the decision, but 36 holes is obviously less of a test than 54."

The 1999 Myrtle Beach Classic, a 72-hole event, was the last LPGA tournament shortened to 36 holes. The last 54-hole event to be cut to 36 holes was the 1998 Los Angeles Women's Championship.

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