Flooded fairways force PGA Tour to set up wild 100-yard par-4 at Byron Nelson Classic

UPDATE: PGA Tour officials have changed their minds and switched, mid-round, the shortened 14th hole from a par-4 into a par-3. For the third round, the course will now play to a par 69.

★★★

If PGA Tour officials needed a sign that Mother Nature wanted Jordan Spieth and his compatriots to move on to the next event, they would apparently need more evidence than torrential downpours turning a fairway into a lake.

Because that’s what has happened at the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship, where heavy rains over the past couple of weeks in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area required officials to pare the 406-yard par-4 14th hole down to a mere 100-yarder.

Here’s the new tee box set up in the middle of the fairway:

Last week at Colonial in Fort Worth was a constant start, stop and reschedule as storms pounded north Texas. This week down the road in Dallas started with defending champ Brendon Todd saying there wasn’t a dry spot on any of the fairways, and that was before more forecasted storms all four days of tournament play. So we knew we were in for a long and unconventional week -- but a 100-yard par-4 was beyond comprehension.

In addition to the unusual setup, which brings eagles and albatrosses into play, more than four inches of additional rain fell overnight on the Four Seasons Resort course, forcing the tour to delay the start of Friday’s second round three hours. Just getting the course playable, even with this extreme new setup, was a massive undertaking.

Needless to say, Twitter was rather amused by the new layout.

★★★

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