Poor weather plays spoilsport at Panasonic Open Golf

KOBE - The opening round of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open was cancelled due to bad weather Thursday, officials said.

Play lasted for 25 minutes Thursday morning at the Rokko Kokusai Golf Club’s East course before officials blew the siren to suspend proceedings at 7.25 a.m.

With rain and winds unrelenting, officials subsequently cancelled the round at 10 a.m. and said the tournament would be reduced to a 54-hole competition.

The Indian challenge is led by Gaganjeet Bhullar with the others being Anirban Lahiri, C. Muniyappa and S.S.P. Chowrasia.

The first round will now be played Friday, using the same draw with the cut to be made after the completion of 36 holes Saturday. The third and final round will be played Sunday.

Asian Tour Tournament Director Jittisak Tamprasert said: “After deliberation, the organising committee has decided to cancel the opening round as conditions were unplayable.”

“The Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open will now be played over three rounds, with the first round restarting Friday morning,” he added.

The weather is expected to clear up for the rest of the week in Kobe for the 150,000,000 yen (approximately $1.7 million) co-sanctioned Japan Golf Tour and Asian Tour event.

This is the second straight week on the Asian Tour that a tournament has been reduced to three rounds as the inaugural Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei was also cut short due to Typhoon Fanapi last weekend.

Japanese superstar Ryo Ishikawa and Korea’s Noh Seung-yul, currently leading the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, are headlining this week’s Panasonic Open.