Storm remnants bring preferred lies into effect for BMW Championship

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Remaining dampness and mud from Tropical Storm Henri has seen PGA TOUR officials enact preferred lies for the opening round of the BMW Championship as the race for the FedExCup heats up.

It appeared an odd choice given the pure sunshine around Caves Valley early in the opening round of the penultimate FedExCup Playoffs event, but Chief Referee Steve Rintoul explained the integrity of the competition had to be maintained as the top 70 players vie for the 30 slots in the TOUR Championship where they’ll all fight for the ultimate prize – the FedExCup.

“Based on the remnants of Hurricane Henri that brought 2-3 inches of rain to Caves Valley Golf Club over the weekend, combined with extreme heat, high dew point and humidity, the PGA TOUR Competitions Committee has granted players the ability to utilize preferred lies in closely-mown areas for Round 1 of the BMW Championship,” Rintoul said.

“Unfortunately, the conditions we’ve been dealt along with no wind to speak of has slowed the drying of the golf course. In some instances, players will be dealing with some extreme mud adhering to the golf ball that will affect its flight in unpredictable ways. THE PGA TOUR has a philosophy in place for using preferred lies for two reasons, one is temporary water and the second is for this exact situation which will allow us to deliver a more-even playing field.”

Rintoul understood some fans might be confused with the decision given the sunny weather but insisted while it might appear bone dry on television, underfoot was a different story. And with the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms things could easily get worse quickly. Rintoul said players in Wednesday’s pro-am were picking up a lot of mudballs.

“When you pick up material like that, it makes playing shots a little bit of guesswork,” Rintoul added.

“It was a very difficult decision, but we made the decision in order for us to not affect the integrity of the competition. We'd like to see a guy drive in the fairway, hit a good iron shot from a decent lie and make the putt and win the tournament. We don't want a poor decision to predicate the winner.”

The committee made the decision early Thursday morning for the opening round only and will reassess each morning hereafter for the last three rounds. While the top 30 is in play for the FedExCup, so are starting positions at East Lake that bring stroke advantages. Ryder Cup spots are also on the line.

“Caves Valley has done a great job getting us to this point. For me personally as chief referee I would much rather everyone feel like they came to Caves Valley and had a good experience, and that it was an equitable competition and the right guys advanced to East Lake or got on the Ryder Cup team, whatever they're shooting for,” Rintoul added.

“Our job as a committee is to run the competition on a day-by-day basis and present the golf course, whether it's through setup or decisions like this, in the best manner we can for the good of the game. I'm very aware there's a lot on the line here.”