Jason Day and Co. Left Waiting as $6 Million PGA Tour Event Gets Abruptly Suspended Before 2nd Round

Looks like the PGA Tour players will have to wait a little longer for something important! Mainly to secure their eligibility for next season, as the Bank of Utah Championship seems to be plagued by delays. As players scrambled to finish their first round, the officials called off the day abruptly.

Play at the Black Desert Golf Course was suspended on Thursday evening due to darkness, halting the first round at 6:47 PM local time (MT). This round will now resume on Friday at 8 am. Due to this, 38 of the 131 players will be waiting to complete their opening rounds before the second round can get underway. Further, the PGA Tour website has reported that the second round will begin at 8:15 am local time (MT).

This suspension adds on to a day that already began with a bunch of delays. Earlier in the morning, starting times for the afternoon wave were pushed back by 15 minutes. While no official reasons were given, the comments on the announcement post on X called the slow pace of play the major reason. By the time the final suspension rolled out, many players had not even finished their 13th hole.

The news obviously drew some backlash on X, as fans wondered the reason for the delay, despite having close to perfect weather.

The weather forecast heading into the day had indeed hinted at a mixed bag. There were chances of showers of isolated thunderstorms through the morning before giving way to partly cloudy and more sunny skies later. But none of that happened, as the skies remained clear with 5 kmph of wind and 44% humidity hovering around. The weather, on the other hand, fluctuated between mid-60s.

This delay will likely extend the $6 M tournament by a day if officials don’t adjust the timings accordingly.

On the other note, when the day was called off, three players were sharing the lead at 6-under. Thorbjorn Olesen, Jesper Svensson, and David Lipsky have entered this week needing strong finishes to secure their 2026 season. Standing 116th, 115th, and 99th, respectively, on the FedExCup Standing, if they do not register a decent finish on the leaderboard, these three could lose their playing card on the PGA Tour.

The sword of elimination is hanging over many players, since the PGA Tour has reduced the number of fully exempt players from 125 to 100, starting next year. What this means is that only the top 100 players on the FedExCup standings will be allowed on the Tour course next year onwards.

Jason Day, who is currently placed T21 on the leaderboard, closed off his first round with a total of 3-under par. He made six birdies against three bogeys on the par-71 course, the last one being made on the 16th hole. Day will tee off for the second round at 1:08 p.m. local time (MT) on Friday alongside Steven Fisk and Sahith Theegala.

Meanwhile, one of the day’s other surprises came from Lanto Griffin.

Lanto Griffin’s struggles to maintain a Tour Card continue

In another twist from the Black Desert Golf Course, Lanto Griffin reportedly withdrew from the tournament before the first round could even begin. The news was dropped on the PGA Tour Communication on X. The timing of his withdrawal is particularly worrisome, as Griffin entered the tournament 108th on the FedExCup standings.

Throughout the season, Griffin has been fighting consistently to secure a place in next year’s events. In this attempt, he was able to register a strong third-place finish at the Procore Championship in September, but the high was short-lived as earlier this month, he missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Griffin’s abrupt withdrawal is not a new story. He has been facing a long battle with back problems. Initially, it started with a ruptured L5-S1 disc in May 2020, which became severe by January 2022. By mid of that year, the pain became unbearable, and he had to undergo microdiscectomy surgery, which sidelined him for six months.

Since then, these issues have persisted, as earlier this year, he also pulled out of the Corales Puntacana Championship after the first round. Later, he attributed severe physical limitations that had prompted him to take such a drastic step.