Strong winds forced the first day's play at the Johnnie Walker Classic to be abandoned yesterday, raising fears that the richest golf event ever held in China would overrun or have to be cut short.
Adam Scott was leading at three under par after nine holes when play was called off in the US$2.3 million tournament, with balls being blown off tees and moving on greens at the exposed Pine Valley course outside Beijing.
Gusts of up to 59kph failed to die down and the high-profile field, which includes four of the world's top 10, were sent back to their hotels.
Play was due to resume at 6:30am today.
About half the 150-strong field was unable even to play a shot and nobody completed a round. Several players struggled in the conditions with six-time major winner Nick Faldo four over after nine holes and China's Tai Fu nine over after 14.
"It's been a tough day for everyone concerned," tournament director Michael Stewart said.
"This morning we did have a fairly strong wind to start with but as the day progressed the wind increased in intensity. We had a number of balls move around different greens and at 10:30am precisely we suspended play," he said.
Australia's Scott was followed on the leaderboard by France's Jean-Francois Lucquin, Jose Manuel Lara of Spain and South Korea's K.J. Choi on two under.
Stewart said he was hoping to complete the first three rounds by Sunday morning to make the scheduled finish that afternoon, but did not rule out an extension into Monday or reducing the tournament to 54 holes.
The abandonment is an early setback for the Johnnie Walker Classic, which has attracted the cream of world golf including Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia.
In the build-up to the nomadic tournament, being held here for the first time, many players were unable to complete practice rounds due to the gusty conditions.
The disruption echoes the chaos at this month's rain-soaked US Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
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