Weather could delay Viking Classic finish past Monday

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The stage is set for a Monday finish at the Viking Classic -- and the tournament has yet to tee off.

Heavy, overnight rains rendered the Annandale Country Club Course unplayable and forced the postponement of the first round. Weather permitting, the first tee time is at 8:20 a.m. ET.

More rain was expected Thursday evening, though, and the forecast for Friday is even worse with thunderstorms expected to arrive at noon. Conditions aren't expected to improve until Sunday when sunny skies are forecast.

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The rain-soaked, muddy fairways at Annandale are completely unplayable.

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Slugger White, the PGA TOUR's vice president of rules and competitions, would not speculate on how far into next week the tournament might extend -- or whether it would be shortened. There is no TOUR event on the schedule for next week.

"We are definitely into Monday right now," White said. "Further than that, we've got to talk a little more. I'm not going to go out there on that limb just yet."

White said the course is at "fill" capacity. He had inspected five holes on the back nine before meeting with the media.

"It's just mud. That's all it is," White said. "It's sad. So there is nowhere for the water to go. You got the mud base there, the Mississippi mud. I can see walking out of your shoes in a couple of places."

White went on to say that the conditions were "probably as bad" as he has seen during his tenure as a tournament official. "That goes back a few years."

"We are trying to do the best we can," White said.

PGA TOUR rookie Bill Lunde got in a practice round at Annandale on Tuesday.

"It was tough walking, let alone playing," he said. "... It's amazing how good the greens are. The greens are perfect. The ground is so saturated and the fairways. The bunkers and all of that."

Walking on the muddy fairways takes a toll, Lunde acknowledged. "It's not like walking on a cart path. It kind of gets old," he said.

"It's a long, patient, waiting game at this point."

White said he expected players would be allowed to lift, clean and place their balls through the green in the first round. He didn't rule out a 36-hole day but said that would likely be on Monday.

"I don't know if we have enough daylight," said White, wary of the shorter fall afternoons and return to standard time this weekend. "We usually need about 12 hours for 36 holes. You never know how big the cut is going to be."