Rate it!

18 votes

The first round of the US Open at Bethpage Black was postponed until Friday morning after hours of torrential rain flooded the course.

6.55pm - THAT'S ALL FOLKS! The USGA have pulled the plug on Thursday's play, and considering that there are new forms of life evolving in some of the deeper puddles by now it's the only decision.

It's a rotten shame that things have been washed out like this, and it'll throw the rest of the tournament's timings into disarray.

But that, frankly, is their problem rather than ours: we'll be back for the resumption of play at 12.30pm UK time on Friday. See you then!

6.20pm - THIS JUST IN! The USGA have conceded that more heavy rain is headed for this corner of Long Island - precisely as the satellites have been saying for a few hours. There seems now to be no prospect of resumption today, with an official announcement expected at 6.45pm UK time.

5.55pm - Well now, here's something: the USGA are obviously feeling fairly optimistic about their greenkeeping staff's abilities, because they're now suggesting that they might be able to get players to the range at about 7pm and then out onto the course half an hour or so later.

It seems far-fetched: there is standing water on every single hole on the course, and it is still throwing it down. But hey, they're the experts.

5.00pm - Long Island is still wetter than an alcoholic fish, I'm afraid - and though a few minutes ago the USGA were talking about it drying up a bit around 6pm (1pm local time), the latest data from the weather satellite suggests that there will be no let up after all.

And even once it has finally stopped, there will still be a good hour or so for clearing up - the 18th fairway alone could take even longer than that to prepare - by which time the rain might well have started up again.

We might still see a bit more play today - but don't hold your breath...

3:40pm - It's only getting heavier from here on in, folks... The head of the USGA championship committee has just promised that they will try and get as much golf played as they possibly can - but given the forecast it looks like that might be that for the day.

We'll keep you posted.

3:15pm - It's all got too much for the course: the USGA has suspended play on account of the waterlogging! But that's a real nightmare brewing for players and organisers, because the weather isn't likely to get any better any time soon... and Bethpage isn't a course that drains well.

3:12pm - If you're wondering, incidentally, why progress seems a little slow today, it's on account of the weather. It's been chucking it down for hourse with no signs of abating, and several of the greens - the second in particular - have to be squeegied by greenkeepers in between groups!

3:06pm - Tiger roars back! Okay, it might be a bit early for overblown hyperbole, but h's picked up a birdie straight away to help offset that double on the sixth.

Paul C 's comment about the dude in shorts despite the pelting rain reminds us of two things: firstly, a night out in Newcastle a few years ago, and an incident in the middle of winter involving CCTV, snow, short-sleeve shirts and office pilfering. We'll not go into detail on either score.

2:59pm - Justin Leonard has always been a bit of Major specialist, but after his amazing win at the Open in 1997 he's never got closer than a string of near misses. Still, he's only in his mid-30s, and is off to a good start with three birdies against two bogeys in his first six holes.

2:47pm - Padraig Harrington's wobbly start has turned from not-good-but-nothing-to-worry-about into uh-oh-what's-going-on-here-then. The 2008 double Major winner has just double-bogeyed the fifth to go four over par.

He's in decent company, though: Tiger messed up the same hole to put an ugly double-bogey on his previously unblemished scorecard.

2:43pm - Jeff Brehaut, on of the first players out, has got to the turn in one-under-par 34. Seeing Brehaut win the US Open would be a little like witnessing Yeovil Town winning the Champions League. You'd have to ask yourself how they are even there in the first place, let alone how have they managed to win.

2:30pm - Our old friends David Horsey and Richard Bland are still propping up the bottom of the leaderboard... and the pair of them are doing their level bests to rubbish our earlier assertion that we couldn't do better ourselves. Bland started 6-5-5-7, while Horsey had two treble-bogies in his first seven holes...

Here's a question though: why on earth does everybody think Geoff Ogilvy is a contender to win more Majors? Smashing bloke, excellent golfer, but we really struggle to see why people put him in that bracket... His US Open win was purely down to others' foibles, and his great record in the Accenture Matchplay means nothing in 72-holes of strokeplay at a Major.

2:23pm - Quick update on some of the staters for you: Ian Poulter has steadied the ship with a birdie to be level after four holes, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington have both dropped a couple of shots in their first four holes, and Lee Westwood has had a bogey-bogey start to his campaign.

Down below in commentland, Paul C thinks that Antony Kim could pick up a first Major. Not a bad shout, that dude has so much confidence that he could probably hanglide to the moon if he wanted to.

2:18pm - Vijay Singh is off to a steady start so far, and the enormous Fijian is one of the players with sufficient length off the tee to handle a long, soggy golf course like this. As ever with the Veejster, though, it'll all be about his putting...

2:12pm - Back to business as usual for Campbell. After that opening birdie he's just double-bogeyed his second hole, the 11th. Sorry about jinxing your chances there, old son...

2:08pm - Here's a bit of a turn-up for the books: Kiwi legend Michael Campbell is at the top of the leaderboard! Cambo has had a miserable few years since that amazing 2005 - in which he won this tournament.

But in among his depressing stream of missed cuts and withdrawals, he has shown in patches that he can still play a bit - as he did when finishing third at last year's British Masters.

Stephen , meanwhile, has nailed his colours to the Irish mast... and it seems a good call for our money. Padraig's patience and unflappability are perfect for Majors, so despite his terrible form in 2009 he has to be in the picture this week.

1:58pm - It's an absolute shocker for Luke Donald: the US-based Englishman has has a treble-bogey seven on the 11th, which is one of the shortest par-4s on the course Zoiks!

Down in the comments below, Stephen is clearly not a Tiger Woods fan and thinks that a European will win. Come on then, Stevie, don't be shy: which one in particular do you think will do it?

1:50pm - Another par for Tiger, while Japanese Tour stalwart Ryuji Imada has leapt to the top of the leaderboard with a birdie on the fifth.

It's hard to see Imada springing a surprise this week, but quirky Argentinian Andres Romero wouldn't surprise us too much. He came so close to winning a Major from nowhere at Carnoustie in 2007, and is the sort of player who can rattle off half a dozen birdies from nowhere, no matter what the course is like. At a place like Bethpage, a run like that could pretty much bury the field.

1:40pm - We're not sure what's the more remarkable fact about Filipino player Angelo Que: is it that he qualified in the first place ahead of a host of more established names through the Japanese qualifying event, or is it that he has played five holes so far and not earned a par? Three bogeys and two birdies suggest that he's a player you'd pay to watch...

1:31pm - Excitement! Drama! Intrigue! None of these things happened with Tiger on his opening hole of the championship, as he picks up a routine par to open his account.

Jun Rico , meanwhile, has noted in the comments below that he would have bet his mother-in-law on Tiger winning. That's the way, eh? Always bet with something you don't mind losing...

1:30pm - The Brits are really not covering themselves in glory just now: England's David Horsey had a horrific treble-bogey seven on the opening hole, and has dropped a further shot now to be four over par after three.

Which is still a lot better than we would probably have done. But still.

1:22pm - The big names are starting to get under way now, with Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Jim Furyk all out on the course now.

Vijay has had the best start of that lot, birdieing the second hole to jump one under par to top the leaderboard alongside Drew Weaver, the player who a few months after surviving the horrendous gun massacre at Virginia Tech University went on to win the 2007 Amateur Championship. Weaver had birdied the fifth and is also one under par.

1:10pm - Is there any point in mentioning that Casey Wittenberg and Bo Van Pelt are leading the early running?

Not really. They are not going to win, so what's the point?

Instead, let's say something a bit more controversial like: 'Paul Casey is a decent golfer, but there is no way he'll win a Major until he gets in to the habit of winning four or five times a year. A few good months means nothing on the back nine of a Major - and it's only a lack of consistent competition from other quarters that has seen him rise so high in the rankings.'

1:07pm - So who's going to win the tournament this year? With Tiger's new-found accuracy - he hit every fairway in the final round of the Memorial - we can't help but think that if he fires on anything like all cylinders then he'll have to be right up there.

How about the Europeans? Do any of them have a realistic chance?

Let us know what you think in the comment boxes below.

12:58pm - Worse news for another of the Brits: plucky qualifier Richard Bland has double bogeyed his opening hole. D'oh!

Bland, in case you're wondering, got into the event after finishing as first alternate after the qualifying tournament at Walton Heath . The spot opened up when Tiger selfishly won the Memorial to steal the exemption available to the winner of that event (despite the fact that the world number one was already exempt in just about every other category going).

12:47pm - Epping's very own Simon Khan has got off to a dodgy start in his first US Open by bogeying the opener. That's not great: the first is one of the few genuinely birdieable par-4s.

12:38pm - The weather on this corner of Long Island is utterly filthy at the moment, with grim grey skies and a heavy, persistent drizzle soaking what's already pretty wet turf.

There are sold out crowds, of course - there always are at the US Open - and there will be plenty of people braving the elements... particularly as a certain Mr T. Woods of Florida will be teeing off in half an hour or so.

12:24pm - The opening groups have all finished the first hole, and it's US journeyman JP Hayes who has got off to the best start by birdieing the 10th - and that's one of the tougher holes on the course. It's a 508-yard par-4, for goodness sakes, that's just ridiculous!

12:15pm - Things are about to get under way on this fearsome golf course, and it's American amateur Rickie Fowler - one of the world's best amateur golfers - who will have the honour of getting things under way. Fowler is playing alongside Casey Wittenberg and Bo Van Pelt.

There's a two-tee start in operation today - an unusual move for a Major, but with bad weather threatening you can see where there coming from. JP Hayes, Greg Kraft and Jeff Brehaut kick off on the 10th.

Find out more about the course by clicking the link beneath the picture for our hole-by-hole guide.

Eurosport