Stormy Singapore Open set for Monday finale

SINGAPORE – Filipino Juvic Pagunsan and Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano return today to complete a sudden-death playoff for a Singapore Open title that the weather seems determined to wash out.

Both men finished a dramatic final round of a tournament already reduced to 54 holes tied on 14-under par yesterday, but two attempts at a sudden-death playoff failed under the leaden and stormy skies over Sentosa Golf Club.The entire field had completed their third rounds in a five-hour window between weather warnings but the joint-leaders were only able to tee off on the par-five 18th playoff hole before the threat of thunder sent them back to the clubhouse.After a 90-minute delay, both men returned to lay-up short of the green as buggies rushed them down the sodden fairway to speed up play, but the heavens opened once more and after two hours of non-stop rain, play was abandoned for the day.The Monday finish, the second in a row, represents a huge disappointment for the players, organisers and fans, who had finally been rewarded for their patience after three days of frustrating breaks with a nail-biting final round. – Nampa-Reuters