The third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship scheduled for this Saturday could not be completed. In fact, it was barely playable for just over an hour. The heavy rains that have fallen in recent hours over the East Course of the Royal Johannesburg Club have flooded the course, making it unplayable.
Shortly after one in the afternoon, Spanish peninsular time, and after several hours of suspension, the tournament organisers sent the golfers back to the hotel. Day over. No way. No more golf. It will resume tomorrow at 6:30 in the morning (local time, one hour less in Spain) with the official announcement that it will be played over 54 holes… at most. Fingers crossed.
The big problem is that the weather forecast for Sunday is not promising. Rain was expected today, but not in such quantity; however, for tomorrow, the radar indicates a thunderstorm. That’s worse. As soon as a lightning bolt appears on the horizon, it will be suspended. We’ll see what happens. The goal is to complete the 54 holes tomorrow and declare a winner, but it should not be ruled out that it may finally be played over 36 holes. Either way, the Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra is a bit closer to his second victory on the DP World Tour. If it is played over 54 holes, he will start with the two-shot lead he has. If it ends up being reduced to 36, even better, the victory is already in his pocket. We’ll see what happens.
The torrential rains that have been falling over Johannesburg since last Monday have made things very complicated. In fact, hole 6, par 5, will be played in this third round as a par 3. Even if it were fine for tomorrow, that decision cannot be changed, as there are players who have already passed through there and played it as a par 3. The fairway was unplayable due to water.
What has been officially communicated to the players is that under no circumstances will a full round of golf be played on Monday. Only if there is very little play left to finish the third round could the possibility be considered that a handful of golfers return on Monday and finish the round. As we said, it should be very little. The reason is that many players already have tickets to return home or to Mauritius, the venue for next week’s tournament. It’s a lot of money, and the Tour does not have the capacity to cover it.
As things stand, golf will return, hopefully, to the Alfred Dunhill Championship this Sunday at 6:30 (5:30 in Spain). Each player will resume where they left off, although many had not even started, including, logically, Chacarra himself. The Madrid native, with -15, has a two-shot lead over South African Jayden Schaper (-13) and three over John Parry (-12) and Branden Grace (-12).
As for the rest of the Spaniards, this is their situation in the tournament:
35.- Ángel Ayora (-6). Has played six holes.
35.- Nacho Elvira (-6). Has played three holes.
48.- Jorge Campillo (-4). Has played one hole.
48.- Rocco Repetto (-4). Has played one hole.
59.- Sebas García (-3). Has not started.
59.- Pablo Larrazábal (-3). Has not started.
59.- Manu Elvira (-3). Has not started.
59. Alex del Rey (-3). Has not started.
