Rain, thunder halt Masters' first day

AUGUSTA, Ga. — After three glorious days, rain finally hit Augusta National Golf Club Thursday, halting play just after 4 p.m. EDT for two hours.

It meant 18 players, including defending champion Mike Weir and three-time champion Tiger Woods, weren't able to finish their rounds and will pick it up this morning.

At least the weather wasn't as bad as last year when nobody played on Thursday due to heavy rains. The second round didn't begin until Friday morning and wasn't complete until late Saturday morning with Weir leading by four shots after a second-round 68. Because of the all-day rain, the waterlogged course played longer last year, but it didn't seem to bother Weir, who is considered a short to medium hitter.

This year everyone wondered how the course would play under "firm and fast conditions" for the first time since the course was lengthened in 2002. The scores were higher as a whole, although the players who played after the rain had a softer course.

It had rained briefly an hour earlier, but thunder started rumbling just before 4 o'clock, and 10 minutes later the horn sounded, suspending play. Three more horns sounded just before 8 p.m., halting play for the day.

When asked about playing after it rained, Weir replied, "the course didn't change a whole lot. It still played the same."

Fortunately, the forecast for the rest of the week calls for sun and no rain.

TIGER STRUGGLES: A lot of folks were shocked by Tiger Woods' 40 on the front nine.

Of course, the last time he did that, in the 1997 opening round, he came back to shoot a 30 on the back and eventually won the tournament by an astounding 12 shots.

This time he didn't rally, making five straight pars before darkness halted play. The way he's playing, no one expects Tiger to win by a dozen shots this year, or even win at all for that matter.

ARNIE'S LAST: Arnold Palmer joked on Tuesday that he might consider playing again next year if he made the cut. Considering that he hasn't made a cut at the Masters in 21 years and considering that he shot an 84 in Thursday's first round, today should be Palmer's final round at the Masters.

Jack Nicklaus also hinted that this could be his final Masters.

"I don't think I'll ever match Arnold's 50," he said. "I have no idea whether I'll play next year. I have no idea what I'm going to do."