Opening round of 2013 European season delayed

DURBAN, South Africa – Rain has washed out the opening day of the 2013 European Tour season at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Championship in South Africa.

South Africa's Sunshine Tour, which co-sanctions the event, says the first round will start at 6:30 a.m. local time on Friday at Royal Durban Golf Club.

European Tour tournament director Mikael Eriksson told Sky Sports "the fairways are very waterlogged, and the course hasn't improved as much as we hoped it would overnight. ... Further rain early this morning put us back another few hours."

Eriksson says organizers tried to shorten some holes to avoid the water. Organizers were still hoping to play the full 72 holes in the first edition of the $1.3 million tournament, the first event on the 2013 Race to Dubai.