THE BRITISH OPEN : Rain Gets the Drop on Third-Round Play

Rain, the first cousin of cold and wind in the British Open family of weather, dropped in on Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club Saturday and, relatively speaking, proved to be a most unwelcome guest.

For the first time in 27 years, rain washed out a round of the British Open with no player’s score counting, which turned out to be bad for Hubert Green but possibly good for Nick Price, the tournament leader who never got out the front door of his house before third-round play was abandoned.

Weather permitting, the third round of the 117th Open Golf Championship will be played today with 69 golfers chasing Price.

And for the first time in history, the British Open will carry over a day: The fourth round is scheduled Monday.

Open officials had hoped to complete the tournament on time by playing 36 holes today. But when the rainfall became heavier Saturday night, officials were forced to extend it a day because the course would not be playable in time for the first group, which was scheduled to start at 6:45 a.m., local time.

Price’s two-round score of 137 is one shot better than Seve Ballesteros’. Craig Stadler and defending champion Nick Faldo are three strokes back of Price, and Andy Bean trails by four shots. They are the only players under par.

Three are at even par, two of them Americans--Fred Couples and Bob Tway. Sandy Lyle, the 1985 champion, is the third member of that group.

Price, who took the lead from Ballesteros with a 67 Friday, switched on his television and learned that Saturday’s round was washed out. But he drove to Royal Lytham anyway and waited for the rain to let up so he could practice for a while.

Instead, it rained harder.

“As much golf as I’ve played, one day without it won’t hurt me,” Price said.

Green’s chances may have been seriously dampened when play was abandoned. He had just finished birdieing five of the first seven holes to move within five shots of Price.

Unfortunately for Green, it doesn’t count. European golf rules do not permit scores to carry over after a suspension in play unless half the field has completed the round. No one in the field of 70 had finished Saturday, and 36 had not even begun.

“I’m not upset,” Green said. “These things happen. It’s not the end of the world. It’s a game called golf.”

And when the weather is lousy, it’s a golf tournament called the British Open. In 1970 at St. Andrews, 1985 at Royal St. George’s and 1986 at Turnberry, rain forced rounds to be suspended, but each time the scores counted because half the field had finished.

Not since 1961 at Royal Birkdale, the Open won by Arnold Palmer, had a round been abandoned without the scores counting. It happened this time because of a steady, sometimes heavy, rainstorm.

From 7 a.m. Saturday until play was called in the early afternoon, just over a half-inch of rain was measured at Royal Lytham. That wasn’t a great deal, but it was more than enough for water to pool on the Nos. 9, 10 and 11 greens.

Open Championship Committee Chairman Alistair J. Low stopped play at 12:20 p.m. and waited until 1:45 p.m. before he announced the round would be abandoned.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing,” Low said. “We did all we could to get the course in playable condition.”

The three flooded greens are at the end of Royal Lytham closest to the Irish Sea. They are slightly lower than those on the rest of the course, so they do not drain well.

As the rain began falling harder Saturday night, the fairways were also affected. The greenskeepers may have a difficult job getting the course playable.

Asked what could be done to prevent further damage to the course, Low replied wistfully: “Turn off the rain.”

Price stood in the clubhouse just outside the locker room and listened to the rain pelt the roof. He considered his chances of winning.

“Actually, with 36 holes left, there are probably 20 or 25 guys who can win the championship,” he said.

“I haven’t even thought about winning. I want to totally eradicate it from my mind. It’s very important to me, but it’s not the end of the world.

“I just want to play like I have the last two days. I know plenty of guys who led championships halfway through.”

Even though he leads the tournament, Price is not close to being the choice of the oddsmakers to finish in the same position. Ballesteros is a 2-1 favorite, followed by Faldo at 4-1 and Lyle at 7-1 after his 69 in the second round. Price is at 8-1.