St. Andrews: Appalling weather conditions forced the cancellation of Wednesday's Champions Challenge. Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Peter Thomson were among the seven team captains for the four-hole event but gusting winds and stair-rod rain left the Royal & Ancient (R&A) organisers with no choice but to call it off on the eve of the British Open.
The R&A said the Champions Challenge prize fund of 50,000 pounds ($75,990) would be donated to the Steve Ballesteros Foundation. The foundation aims to channel funds into research, particularly into brain cancer, the condition that triple Open winner Ballesteros was diagnosed with in 2008. The 53-year-old was invited to play in the four-hole event but doctors advised the ailing Spaniard not to make the trip to St Andrews. David Hill, R&A director of championships, said he was confident the 150th anniversary Open would start as scheduled on Thursday.
"Hopefully it (the weather) will improve a little bit and we'll get on with a great championship starting tomorrow," Hill told reporters. The unpleasant weather made little difference to the spirit around the Old Course, with spectators lining the fairways to watch the hardy few professionals braving the conditions. Close to the iconic clubhouse, the familiar Scottish sound of bagpipes could be heard over the howling wind.
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