Nicklaus Still Can’t Establish His Seniority : Golf: Bad weather in Arizona forces postponement of first round of Tradition. Tournament cut to 54 holes.

Jack Nicklaus’ debut on the Senior PGA Tour was delayed at least another 24 hours.

Heavy rain, thunder, lightning and hail forced cancellation of the first round of the scheduled 72-hole Tradition tournament Thursday at Desert Mountain. Weather permitting, the tournament will be a 54-hole event and begin this morning.

There were two attempts to play on the 6,837-yard Cochise course that Nicklaus designed. In a light rain, the first two groups teed off beginning at 8:25 a.m., but the storm became more severe, forcing a halt.

Greens and fairways quickly became flooded. When the rain stopped, it was decided to split the field, with half starting on No. 1 and the remainder on No. 10, and play resumed at noon. At 1:28 p.m., the round was stopped again, with Nicklaus not having teed off. In the schedule change, his tee time had become 1:48.

Lee Trevino had not started either. Gary Player had a birdie on the first hole washed away, and Larry Mowry, who was three under par after four holes, did it for practice.

Arnold Palmer, who saved par on No. 1 after a terrible lie in a sand trap, sank a 30-foot putt for a birdie on the second hole. He said that made it a cinch the round wouldn’t be played. “I can’t remember the last time I had one-putts on successive holes,” he said. “I knew it would be called off.”

Although residents said they had never seen such weather in late March, Palmer said it wasn’t unusual.

“In fact, I made my pro tour debut in Phoenix, and it was cold,” he said. “Winnie (his wife) and I had just bought a trailer, and we were staying in it. The first morning, I arose and turned on the water. Nothing happened. It was 25 degrees, and the water pipe was frozen. I got some hot water and poured it on the pipe. I wasn’t too patient in my younger days, so when the hot water didn’t do it, I kicked the pipe. I had water, all right, a spout shooting up like a water fountain. I took Winnie to breakfast at the club. That happened 35 years ago.

“Another time in Phoenix, I remember Bob Hope and I were partners in the pro-am. We had a chance to win, so Hope wouldn’t putt out on the 18th until about a foot of snow was cleared off the green. We won the pro-am.”

Senior Golf Notes

It could have been worse. Last December, when the Spalding tournament was held at Desert Mountain, play was delayed because of snow. It was almost that cold Thursday. . . . Larry Mowry shot a 66 in the first round to lead the tournament in Japan last week, but lost the insert in his driver and quickly faded away.

The tour’s tournament director, Brian Henning, said he should have stopped play earlier the second time. “The weather bureau said there would be intermittent showers, if you can believe that, and no lightning was in the area. I should have trusted my own eyes, and I would have stopped play five minutes sooner. The players on the course were soaked, but everyone was off before the lightning came.”

The $800,000 purse will stand, if they play 54 holes. . . . A number of reporters, on their way to the NCAA Final Four in Denver, were here for Nicklaus’ senior debut, but now most will miss it.