Huge storm delays Woods No.1 bid

Tiger and Co. to return on Monday to complete Bay Hill Invitational

Battered: The Bay Hill course was besieged by a violent storm which wiped out Sunday’s final round

Tiger Woods will have to wait a little bit longer to find out if he is to reclaim the world No.1 position for the first time in two and a half years after a massive storm forced the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational into a Monday finish.

Woods, who is chasing his third title of the season and the eighth of his career at Bay Hill, managed only two holes of his final round in Florida before a vicious thunderstorm, packing gusts of over 60mph, called a sudden halt to proceedings.

An inch-and-a-half of rain fell on the course as the storm ravaged the course, knocking over a TV tower behind the tenth green. A fish was even spotted in the middle of the 18th course as a tornado warning was issued. After that expired, however, officials decided to abandon play for the day in order to clean up the course.

CONTINUES BELOW…

No.1 in his sights: Tiger Woods, playing alongside Rickie Fowler, is just 16 holes from returning to world No.1

Woods, who turned a two-shot 54-hole lead into three shots before the action was called, was philosophical about the weather interruption.

“At least we got a little activity in today,” said the 14-time major winner. “So, we’re not completely stagnant. We’ve dealt with this before. We had that fog delay in San Diego, and this is part of playing outside. We’ve got to deal with conditions like this.”

Woods, who revealed last week that he is dating skier Lindsey Vonn, knows that a win would see him leapfrog Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings.

Woods has spent a record 623 weeks as world No.1 during his career up to now but last held the top spot on October 30, 2010, before England’s Lee Westwood took the ranking from him.

In the time since, three other players, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald and McIlroy, have held the top spot, with the latter having been there for the 31 weeks.

• Play is scheduled to resume at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational today at 10am local time, 3pm in the UK.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor