BMW Championship first round suspended (lightning)

Viktor Hovland and Rickie Fowler held the early lead when the BMW Championship encountered a lightning delay on Thursday afternoon in Owings Mills, Md.
Play was halted at Caves Valley Golf Club near Baltimore at 2:35 p.m. ET due to lightning in the area. The delay was approaching an hour with no update on when golfers would be cleared to return to the course.
The BMW Championship is the second of three legs of the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top 30 in the season-long standings after this tournament will advance to next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Norwegian star Hovland entered the week just 28th in points but helped his chances of advancing with a solid start to the BMW. He posted a 3-under-par 67, with three front-nine bogeys offset by a total of six birdies.
Fowler continued a run of good form by going 3 under through his first 12 holes. He snuck into the BMW field by tying for sixth at last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, boosting him from No. 64 to No. 48 in the points race.
Hovland and Fowler were one stroke ahead of Michael Kim, Ben Griffin, Sam Burns, Australian Jason Day and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim when play was suspended.