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BMW CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 9, 2018Slugger WhiteCarmel, Indiana Q. Slugger, the obvious reason you're here is just kind of what we're looking at. I know we're kind of fighting it right now, but if you could give us a little bit of an update where we are and what you guys are looking at. SLUGGER WHITE: Obviously we've got kind of a mess out there. As of right now, the golf course is unplayable. It's going to need -- if it stopped raining right now for a couple hours, we might be able to get to play. We're going to look to assess the golf course right now. I've been looking at it since about 4:45 this morning. It's pretty bad. We've got -- the greens are fine, the bunkers are going to be fine. We've got teeing grounds that are very marginal, and we've got fairways that are very marginal. We need -- obviously we need to stop right now, so we do have two, two and a half hours to let it drain down and get the maintenance crew out there to see if we can push some water around. The front nine -- quite honestly, the front nine holes are relatively good. The back nine is our biggest concern. Q. What are the scenarios that have been talked about as far as what can and can't be done? SLUGGER WHITE: Well, obviously we're going to try to play today, and we're going to play -- we're going to try to play today. If we happen to play and finish, so be it, but it doesn't look very promising. But stranger things have happened. And we would be here tomorrow. Tomorrow is in our -- is part of regulation, so we'll be here. If we don't play here today, we're going to be here tomorrow. We do have a little window tomorrow from like 8:00 until 2:00, maybe 7:30 to 2:30, in that neighborhood, but we'll just -- the sad part is it's like one hour at a time, and we're trying our best to get guys out and get to play. Q. Is Tuesday an option? SLUGGER WHITE: Well, it is and it isn't. It's one of those things where if we get in tomorrow and we get half the round completed, yes, we would be into Tuesday. If we don't -- it's really too early to talk about that. Q. We would never start a round on Tuesday? SLUGGER WHITE: Right, nor would we start a round on Monday thinking we could not get half the field finished. Q. Even with no event next week? SLUGGER WHITE: That doesn't make any difference. Q. Some players have an outing day, like TaylorMade tomorrow in New Jersey. Are you aware about that? SLUGGER WHITE: Wasn't even considering -- what is it now? Q. TaylorMade have a big day, but this tournament comes first. SLUGGER WHITE: We don't even think like that, yeah. Q. The determination whether to shorten it to 54 holes wouldn't be made before tomorrow? SLUGGER WHITE: Correct, that's exactly right. Q. I'm sure BMW want a 72-hole tournament, don't they? SLUGGER WHITE: Well, I think everyone does. You'll see guys that are 30, 31, 32 on that list for two weeks from now that they all want to play in, and we want them to play. Believe me, we're doing -- John Gosselin and his crew have done an outstanding job out there yesterday, and they're going to get back out there today, so we're going to do the best we can. Q. Any adjustments for your setup? SLUGGER WHITE: Oh, yeah. The sad part, so many of these -- just take the 11th hole. If you try to go up on the 11th hole, it gets worse closer to the green, so we've got to stay back where we were, and it was kind of drowned on the moundy part of it, but we would make adjustments, hole placements and -- yes, we would definitely. Q. How much rain are you talking about you've had, do you reckon, so far? SLUGGER WHITE: Probably when I got here this morning we had had .6 -- well, probably about a half an inch. Q. Overnight? SLUGGER WHITE: Overnight, yeah, and that was at right before 5:00 this morning. Q. How much for the week? SLUGGER WHITE: I would say probably in excess of three inches. Q. Are you hearing anything from the players about their concerns for not having 72-hole event knowing that some seasons might be on the line? SLUGGER WHITE: No, I mean, I've had a couple guys call, and quite honestly, they want to play, too. In fact, I've had about four guys call. And we say we're just going to do the best we can, and hopefully we can play. They're trying to make plans, too, and they've been through it enough and they know what's going on, so they know we're going to be here today and probably tomorrow. Q. We spoke 24 hours ago, and after the second round this golf course had had two and a half inches of rain. How much more rain has fallen since the completion of your third round? SLUGGER WHITE: Well, we probably got another half an inch overnight, and that was at about let's say 5:30 this morning. We got more. So I would say in excess of half an inch of rain out there. Q. What's the status of the golf course right now? SLUGGER WHITE: It's saturated. Like I told you, it's field capacity. We've got tees that are very marginal. Greens and bunkers are fine, but we've got fairways that are very marginal. And I've said before that John Gosselin and his team here have done a fantastic job, and they're just trying to shovel sand against the tide, and it's not real easy. Q. Let's talk about the procedures for this day. What is your plan as you continue to move into the afternoon hours? SLUGGER WHITE: We're looking at the golf course right now. In fact, after I finish here I'm going to go back out there myself. We're seeing how long it might take the -- John's guesstimation on how long it will take for it to drain down again. We squeegeed fairways yesterday, making big puddles out of little ones, so it's an ongoing process. The unfortunate process is it's going to be hour by hour, and that's the tough part of it. Q. I'm guessing you assume a couple hours minimum to get the golf course ready for competition? SLUGGER WHITE: Absolutely. At least two. It took us about two and a half yesterday. Q. Forecast not looking good, rain all afternoon; what if you ultimately decide you can't go today? I think we'll get in a point in maybe the 2:00 time if we can't play, then we need to reconsider what we're going to do. Q. Let's broaden out from today and look at this championship in general. Right now we've got 54 holes in play. If you can't go today, you're back out there on Monday trying to get the final round in. The forecast for Monday doesn't look good. What happens if you can't get going on Monday? SLUGGER WHITE: What happens if we don't get Monday? Then I think that we will be looking at maybe a 54-hole event. But I'm not going to commit to that right now. Q. Have there been players who have spoken to you with concerns -- SLUGGER WHITE: I've had three or four guys call, yes, that happened to have my number. They have, but they've been -- they understand. They've been through this before, and they're all professional, and they know what's going on. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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