Play was called off on Friday, the second day of the $9.75-million Zozo Championships with Tiger Woods and Gary Woodland sharing the lead at six-under after the first round at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
The organisers, who had advanced the tee times for second round by an hour because of the forecast of heavy and persistent rain, decided to postpone the second round as there was no chance of the course and especially greens being playable with such extended periods of rain and through the day.
By the time the officials and the players arrived at the course it had already taken on four-tenths of an inch of rain early Friday morning, said Gary Young, Vice-President of Rules and Competitions for the PGA Tour.
The second round will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday and they will not repair after the conclusion of the second round. The third round will be played on Saturday until dark.
Officials expect it will take about two hours to complete the third round on Sunday and the final round will start at 9 a.m. local time with the option still open for a Monday finish.
The winner gets $1.75 million of the $9.75-million purse in the second of the three events on the Asian swing, which began with CJ Cup in Korea last week, won by Justin Thomas, and will conclude with WGC-HSBC next week in Shanghai.
On Thursday, Woods produced a thrill-a-minute round to get the Zozo Championship off to a roaring start. His 64 included three bogeys on his first three holes from the tenth and had nine birdies in last 14 holes.
Later in the day, Gary Woodland went about his job quietly, almost unnoticed at times. Four-under through the front nine he added two more on back nine for a bogey free 64.