Rain delays start at Firestone

The start of the NEC World Golf Championship in Akron – penultimate qualifying event for Europe’s Ryder Cup team – was delayed by over three hours today.

Torrential overnight storms forced the hold-up and in a bid to complete the first round by nightfall the 76-strong field were switched from playing in pairs off one tee to three-balls off two tees.

The Firestone Country Club escaped some of the worst weather in the area – a tornado warning was posted nearby – but it was still bad enough to put the opening of the €5.5m tournament back from 9.35am to 12.45pm.

Darren Clarke is the defending champion and there are 20 Europeans competing for a first prize of $1.2m, over €970,000.

Five of Europe’s side will be determined on Sunday off a table based on world ranking points earned in the past year.

Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Lee Westwood are in position to claim those.

The storms had not disappeared for good. By mid-morning there had been more thunder, it was pouring again and a further one-hour delay was announced.

However, the forecast was better for later in the afternoon and officials were hopeful of getting the players out on what by now was a saturated course.