Tiger Woods is poised to regain his number one ranking on Monday with a victory as he sits three shots ahead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament, which saw play suspended on Sunday in the middle of the action as a serious rain storm hit central Florida.
Woods was able to play two holes and birdied the second for a one-under through two, putting his lead at three strokes ahead of Keegan Bradley, who was two-under through four holes. Ken Duke is tied for second after going one-under through four holes. Reports said nearly two inches of rain poured down on the course and winds were whipping around 50 mph.
Officials had to deal with a television tower that blew over and said that play would resume on Monday at 10 AM, with Tiger Woods leading the pack by three shots, looking for his third victory this season. A win for the defending tournament champion would earn him the number one seed from Rory McIlroy for the first time since 2010. He has won two tournaments before the Masters for the first time since 2005 and is looking for his third before that event for the first time since 2008.
Woods was only able to hit six shots on the day and is ahead of Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, John Huh and Ken Duke by three strokes. Sergio Garcia had himself an interesting day after shooting his tee shot on the 10th hole into a tree. Garcia climbed up into the tree and hit a one-handed shot back onto the fairway. Garcia later decided to withdraw from the tournament after saying he injured his Achilles and left shoulder during the event.
Woods has had a hot start to the season, winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral two weeks ago. He has won five tournaments in the past year and has taken advantage of the poor play by Rory McIlroy, who struggled to make the cut in Abu Dhabi, was eliminated in the first round of Match Play before walking off the Honda Classic and quitting due to tooth pain.
McIlroy will play next week ahead of the Masters, while Woods will be finishing up at Arnold Palmer before heading to Augusta. Woods will be the favorite whether he wins Monday or not, but he will be number one again with a victory. The PGA Tour has had experience with Monday finishes this year, as this is the third tournament that has needed it. Officials hoped a delay would occur and not a suspension, but the storm lasted too long.
Woods is going for his eighth win the Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament, which would tie Sam Snead for the most at one event. Woods has already won on a Monday this year, taking the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego after a bad fog. Phil Mickelson missed the cut earlier in the week and Billy Horschel had a rough go of it on the sixth hole.