In the twilight of his career, Scott Hoch wasn’t about to let the sunset ruin a huge chance to win another tournament.
Not in light of the dark, so to speak.
Though fans were unhappy, a playoff between Hoch and Jim Furyk at the Ford Championship at Doral was nonetheless halted because of darkness Sunday night, forcing the pair to return at 7 a.m. CST Monday to finish their duel.
Faced with a 9-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole, Hoch told PGA Tour rules official Slugger White that he couldn’t read the break on the green, and Furyk quickly affirmed the decision to reload in the morning.
It was hardly a popular idea.
The trio was immediately booed by fans surrounding the green, who chanted “Let them putt, let them putt” and other unpleasantries. Furyk likened it to a football crowd unhappy with a penalty call, while Hoch recalled an equally unpopular tie last summer in Milwaukee.
“It was like being at the All-Star Game or something,” he said.
Hoch, 47, a recipient of five laser surgeries on his eyes, gave nary an inch when it was suggested afterward that they might have continued.
“I got my eyes fixed,” said Hoch, who shot a 3-under 69, “but he didn’t give me night vision.”
Furyk, who started the day one stroke behind Hoch, shot 68 and the pair finished regulation play tied at 17 under. In a concession to irked fans, the Doral Golf Resort & Spa and PGA Tour agreed to admit all comers today, free of charge. ESPN will televised the rest of the playoff .
Play was suspended at 6:33 p.m. EST, exactly seven minutes after sundown. To be on the safe side, the distances of the putts were measured and marked by tour officials.
The last time a PGA Tour event was suspended because of darkness came during a playoff between Jose Coceres and Billy Mayfair at Hilton Head in 2001.
The non-ending was a fitting non-end to an increasingly bizarre day.
Both players made clutch par recoveries on the 72nd hole to prolong the match, and Furyk pulled off another up-and-down save from the grandstands behind the 18th green to extend the playoff.
