GOLF / U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP : Woods’ Match Is Suspended Because of Storm

Lightning and heavy rain funneling into the Ohio Valley from Hurricane Andrew caused play to be suspended midway through Thursday’s opening round of match play in the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Tiger Woods, a Western High School junior, was 2-up after 13 holes in his match against UCLA’s Ted Gleason when play was suspended.

David Fay, executive director of the U.S. Golf Assn., said the tournament will be extended at least through Monday. He said weather reports issued Thursday afternoon called for more than five inches of rain today.

Play was suspended at 11:57 a.m. (PST) with 10 matches completed and 22 others in progress at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The 44 players on the course were moved to safety as an eighth of an inch of rain fell in a 15-minute period while lightning flashed.

Within two hours, the rain had stopped and most of the players were on the practice tee warming up for a resumption of play. But another storm front moved into the area and the players were summoned from the practice tee and back into the clubhouse.

Shortly thereafter, the USGA announced that play had been suspended and would resume, weather permitting, Friday morning.

Originally, the second and third rounds were scheduled to be played today, the quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday and the 36-hole final Sunday.

Fay said it is likely that all matches would be pushed back at least a day, with the final on Monday. But even that schedule was based on optimistic weather reports.

Woods, the two-time national junior champion from Cypress, complained of back spasms before and during his round Wednesday. He said he wasn’t bothered Thursday, adding that it shouldn’t be a problem.

Tiger’s father, Earl Woods, said his son’s back was a little tight in the morning, but it loosened up after he spent a while on the driving range.

Woods, the 16-year-old who became the youngest player ever in a PGA Tour event when he played in the L.A. Open, is trying to become the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur. Robert Gardner was 19 years 5 months old when he won the tournament in 1909.

Thursday, Woods took an early lead when Gleason of Noblesville, Ind., bogeyed on the first two holes.

The stroke-play medalist, Georgia Tech senior David Duval, was 1-up after two holes against Tom McKnight, who started Thursday by beating five others in a playoff to become the 64th player in the match-play field.

San Diego’s Manny Zerman, runner-up in the last two Amateurs, was 1-up through eight holes in his match with Matt Robbins.

Two-time champion Jay Sigel of Berwyn, Pa., was 3-up on USGA official David Eger through six holes.

Dave Taaffe contributed to this story.