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First it was the Nissan Open, then it was Bay Hill. One week later, it was the Tournament Players Championship, then this weekend it has been the BellSouth Classic. The "it" represents Mother Nature and unfortunately for professional golf, she has now officially taken over as the lead story for the 2005 season.

Weather has now affected eight of the 14 tournaments on the year. The double set of postponements in Atlanta caused this week's tournament to be reduced to 54 holes, the second time this season that a PGA event has been shortened because of unplayable conditions.

The poor weather in Georgia simply matches what players had seen the previous two weeks in Florida. The disappointing conditions took the luster off of two of the premiere PGA events, Bay Hill and the Tournament Players Championship, that consistently see participation from the Tour's best players. Instead of discussions about Mickelson, Woods, Els and Singh, spectators were forced to talk about the wind and the rain.

Professional golfers generally play through rainy conditions, donning weather gear and hiding under umbrellas as the make their way around the course. But that is when the rain is merely a nuisance, creating soft ground, golf balls with mounds of mud clinging to the surface, and wet, slippery club grips. The recent conditions have come from driving rains that leave sand bunkers looking like small ponds and fairways and greens covered with standing water and puddles. Try as they may, Tour officials are unable to create golfing conditions if a player is unable to roll a ball across the green.

The BellSouth Classic finally got underway Saturday as temperatures rose to the low 50's but with winds reaching 20 to 30 mph while the forecast for Sunday and Monday was for warmer weather and less wind. Unfortunately, shortening the tournament to three rounds and moving the closing round to Monday profoundly affects the golfers and fans.

An event reduced to 54 holes always puts a profound emphasis on a single, hot round. In a shortened event, one exceptional round can propel a golfer to a PGA win.

The reduced event going into Monday also caused a large number of golfers to pull out of the tournament even after having committed earlier, some even pulling out after making the trip. With the Masters on the horizon, many golfers simply do not want a disruption to their preparation routine, a routine that involves something other than playing a competitive round of golf on a Monday. Finally, pushing the final round to Monday also no doubt impacted the fans, many of whom would be forced to skip work in order to see the conclusion of the tournament.

With the Tour's most prestigious event, "The Masters", set for next week, PGA officials can only hope the foul weather has run its course. For the Tour, it is imperative that the play of the best in golf once again becomes the major story, not Mother Nature.