The Coast Isn’t Clear for Trump Event

Lesson No. 1 from the Office Depot Championship in Rancho Palos Verdes:

It’s hard to trump Mother Nature.

All the millions Donald Trump spent to purchase, rebuild and redesign Trump National Golf Club were worthless against the dense coastal fog that delayed the start of the second round by 3 1/2 hours Saturday, raising the possibility the already far-behind-schedule tournament won’t be completed until Monday.

The final group of the day didn’t tee off until about 6 p.m. and had 17 holes remaining when play was suspended as the sun began to sink behind an already thickening bank of fog at 6:23 p.m., a portent of more trouble today.

Hee-Won Han of South Korea was the leader in the clubhouse at nine under par after a second-round 68 on the par-71 course.

Catriona Matthew and Karen Icher were seven under and still on the course. Jennifer Rosales and Tina Barrett were three strokes back. But more than half the field had not finished the second round of the scheduled 54-hole tournament, hampered by continuing slow play as well as the fog delay.

“The players are all tired. We were just waiting, waiting, waiting,” Han said.

Annika Sorenstam, who arrived at the course before 7 a.m., finally signed her scorecard for a 70 after 6 p.m.

“I’m just happy to be done and I’m just going to have some lunch,” she said. “Dinner! It feels like lunch.”

Sorenstam holed out from 95 yards to eagle the 315-yard, par-four first hole, raising both arms as the crowd cheered. The two-time defending champion was six strokes behind Han after a round that included a double bogey on No. 6.

“The way it looks, I’ll have to be aggressive [in the final round]. This is a course where you have to find a balance between playing aggressive and not,” she said. “Some holes you have to be safe.”

Many players -- including the 25 who didn’t finish the first round before dark Friday -- began the day in the clubhouse, watching the fog start to lift and then settle again.

“Next year maybe we’ll get 100 fans and blow the fog over to Catalina,” said LPGA tournament official Angus MacKenzie, who already had a challenge on his hands trying to speed the pace of play on a first-time tournament course that produced six-hour rounds Friday.

Second-round tee times didn’t begin until 10:45, and after further delays, the final group didn’t tee off until the sun was about to go down.

More fog this morning -- and more slow play -- could push the 54-hole event to Monday or force tournament officials to cut it to 36 holes.

“If we can still complete round two in the morning and get into round three by 1 or 2 o’clock, we’d have a good chance of finishing on time,” assistant tournament director Rich Thomas said, adding players might start on the No. 1 and No. 10 tees in the final round.

A Monday finish would be the preferred option over shortening the tournament to two rounds.

“Trump wants to play 54 holes and Office Depot wants to play 54 holes,” Thomas said.

The reasons for the delays go beyond the fog and raise issues about the future of the tournament, even though players have been lavish in their praise for both the ocean views and the condition of the $264-million course, which is expected to command weekend greens fees of $300 when it finally receives approval to open to the public.

But with only a one-year agreement to hold the LPGA Tour event at the course and Office Depot in the final year of its contract to sponsor the tournament, much is up in the air.

“They want to continue here and we want the tournament to come back,” Thomas said. “We are waiting to work out some kinks.”

Sorenstam said, “The pace of play is something that needs to be looked at -- that’s something they’ll have to analyze after this tournament is done.”