PGA event postponed by rain

SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — The thought of playing 36 holes and jetting across the ocean on the charter plane was about as pleasant to Kenny Perry as the violent storm that washed out the second round of the John Deere Classic on Friday.

“That’s going to be hard,” he said.

That’s exactly what he’ll have to do, unless he misses the cut. And the odds of that are slim.

Scheduled to start at 7 a.m. on Friday, officials were hoping play would begin at 4 p.m. but called it off about 20 minutes before the first groups teed off.

By then, the sun was out and most of the clouds had disappeared. But the course was simply too wet after 11‚Ñ2 to 13‚Ñ4 inches of rain fell, so officials moved the round back a day and scheduled 36 holes for Sunday.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen and Darron Stiles remained tied for the lead after shooting 7-under 64 on Thursday. J.J. Henry, Matt Bettencourt and Dean Wilson were still one stroke off the lead. And Perry (68), U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (69) and Zach Johnson (69) were still in contention.

About the only things that changed Friday were the projected start times and the weather.

Officials initially pushed the starting tee time back to 8:30 a.m. That changed to 9:30, 11:30, 2 p.m. and, finally, 4 before they gave up.

Although the course looked better, it still felt like a wet sponge. Even so, that was a big improvement considering it had been filled with puddles and streams of water.

PGA Tour tournament director Arvin Ginn said five holes were unplayable even though on the surface, they appeared to be in decent shape.

“You start squeegeeing fairways and everything else, and water keeps coming back on certain holes,” he said. “We just couldn’t get the golf course ready to play in time to play a sufficient amount of golf to make a difference.”

He also felt the groups that teed off would have been at a disadvantage, since the course figures to be in better shape today when clear skies are forecast.

The main goal was to finish by Sunday evening, and it would have been whether the British Open was the following week or not.

“Everything is done according to the regulations, and we’re playing — and this is not to sell the British Open short — the John Deere Classic this week,” Ginn said. “And that’s what we’re mandated to do in the scheduled time.”