Justin Rose reluctantly left the course after moving to within a shot of the lead and just one hole to play moments before a fierce electrical storm cancelled any further play on day two of the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
Rose had just managed to hole birdie putts of two inches at the 16th and then nine feet on the par three, 17th to move to third place at seven under par when a siren sounded to halt play at 5.28pm local time.
Officials then ‘called’ play for the day just prior to 6pm and advising of a 7am restart.
Spot Justin Rose’s ball on route to a birdie at the 16th green during Friday’s Round 2 of the 97th US PGA Championship. (Photo – Eoin Clarke, www.golffile.ie)
Some 53 players have still to complete their round and with the Aussie duo of Jason Day (14 holes) and Matt Jones (12 holes) sharing the lead on eight under par.
Rose had moved onto the 18th tee but when play halted he and his caddy walked the length of the final hole and managing to avoid the deluge that followed.
“I was so close Bernie to finishing standing on the 18th tee and it would have been so good to finish the round today,” he said.
“It looked like it was going to a very big storm as we could see it getting darker and darker, and the officials made the right decision and it’s good now they have called it for the day and let us go.
“However I am very pleased with the 17 holes I had played and very pleased.
“I had a tumultuous start to my round what with going birdie, par and then taking double at four but I managed to get back into my groove and to birdie 16 and 17 was very pleasing.
“So it’s all going in the right direction but it means a very early night and an early restart.
“And the good thing is the leader board is very bunched so no one is running away with it.”
