LPGA slammed for wiping out weather-suspended 1st round of Evian Championship

The LPGA, for the second time in the short, five-year history of its fifth major, cut the weather-suspended Evian Championship down to 54 holes and scrapped all partial scores from Thursday’s first round.

Despite the weather, which featured strong winds and rain, tour commissioner Michael Whan’s decision to wipe out Thursday’s scores, begin anew on Friday, and finish the shortened event on Sunday did not go over well with players or observers.

Jessica Korda, who was 2-under through eight holes and shared the early lead with So Yeon Ryu (2-under through five) was particularly unhappy with the determination to delete the results from the abbreviated opening round.

Whan anticipated such blowback from his ruling.

“We’re going to commit to a 54-hole finish, which some people will definitely not like and I’ll be the one taking the brunt of that and that’s OK,” Whan told reporters at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France. “Sunday is going to get some rain coming and going. So we know that if we said 72 holes and we start again tomorrow, we’re probably looking at Monday and Tuesday, and that’s not great for anybody.”

There was blowback from all corners of the golf world, with players tweeting or retweeting their displeasure with the call — especially since the weather cleared out nicely later in the day:

At least one PGA Tour player wondered if the choice to abort the opening round cheapened the status of the LPGA’s fifth major, which got off to a rough start in 2013 when inclement weather forced that year’s event to be similarly condensed to 54 holes:

Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer believed the action definitely did just that.

“It’s a very bad call. This is a major championship and you don’t take golf that’s already been played off the board in a major championship,” Rymer said on Thursday’s Morning Drive. “Major championships are determined over 72 holes. If you gotta stay there for a month, you stay there for a month.

“I don’t know what went into making this decision, the logistics behind it,” Rymer added, “but that, to me, does not indicate that this event is being treated with the gravity that it deserves as a major championship. Seventy-two holes; you play as long as it takes … I just disagree wholeheartedly with this. It diminishes the event … It’s just not right. Doesn’t feel right, doesn’t look right; it’s not good for the ladies’ game.”

Such a travesty would never happen in a men’s major, tour pro Robert Damron noted.

“Are we going to have a 54-hole Augusta ever, you think?” Damron asked rhetorically of the Morning Drive panel. “I don’t think we’re going to do it.

“It’s a surprising call,” he said, “really surprising.”

GC’s Tom Abbott concurred:

With all the handwringing and second guessing, by the way, we imagine that Sung Hyun Park was one player who may have applauded the mandate to erase Thursday’s scores and start again. The reigning U.S. Women’s Open champion was 6-over through five holes when play was halted.

In any case, the Round 1 redo went off as scheduled on Friday. Thursday’s original tee times were to be the same for Friday’s restart, with tee times for the second round the same for Saturday. Following play on Saturday, the top 70 players and ties will advance to Sunday’s finale.