For the second time, the LPGA Championship will try to move a year away from the Ben Wright affair by playing golf instead of practicing damage control.
The first round was washed out on Thursday when the accumulated result of a week of rain made it impossible to play. They'll try again today to start the tournament that has now become the first LPGA major championship ever shortened to 54 holes.That follows last year's fiasco in which a great tournament was overshadowed by Wright's comments about lesbians on the LPGA Tour.
The comments eventually cost Wright his position with CBS and everyone - the LPGA, McDonald's, CBS, the players and the fans - couldn't wait to get the tournament started to finally push the controversy aside.
They had to wait until today.
Yet another night of rain at the DuPont Country Club "pretty much put the course at the saturation point," LPGA assistant tournament director Barb Trammell said as she announced the cancellation of play.
She said there were some holes that were so wet players would have had to move their balls "50 or 60 yards to find relief."
That means the event will be three rounds instead of four, a decision tournament organizers opted for because they want the event to end on CBS on Sunday afternoon rather than on cable TV - or no TV - on Monday.
"We have seemed jinxed here," Trammell said. "We've had a lot of cold and rainy conditions."
Last year's brilliant final-round duel between Kelly Robbins and Laura Davies was played in exactly those conditions. Robbins overcame the elements to birdie three of the final seven holes and defeat Davies by one stroke.
But that magnificent finish was lost in the news storm created by Wright's comments.