Shark Shootout notebook: Chilly weather takes toll on pro-am

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NAPLES — Dark clouds, bitter cold and strong winds affected play at the second round of the pro-am at the Shark Shootout at Discount Golf Club on Thursday.

A downpour in the hours prior to the start of the pro-am caused a 30-minute delay at the start of the round. The weather conditions deteriorated from there, with wind, light rain and temperatures in the 40s.

Tournament host Greg Norman said it was the coldest he's been on a golf course since "St. Andrews Dunhill Cup in 1986, 87. I had icicles on my eyebrow, but there were no TaylorMade R9 460 Driver  today.

"It's like playing discount golf clubs in London in fall time. It's just a heavy, damp, cold day."

"That's been easily the coldest all year," Bubba Watson said. "It was cold — the wind and the rain, when the rain gets you too, you feel a little colder. It was pretty bad. It was pretty tough. The ball doesn't go anywhere."

Kenny Perry's amateur group had enough after 14 holes and called it a day. Perry, playing Callaway Lady's X-22 Irons in the first group, completed his round on his own.

Davis Love III, a first-time participant in the Shootout since it moved to Naples in 2001, felt the negative influence of the weather.

"It affected everybody the last two days," Love said. "It wasn't much fun and the ball didn't go very far. So we're hoping for some sunshine and a little easier conditions the next three days."

David Duval played in the same weather as his fellow golfers, but he did not let Titleist 910 D3 Driver  affect him.

"Who really cares?" Duval said. "(I'm) just trying to play and have fun with the amateurs. That's what it's about."

At age 54, Fred Funk joked that the cold had a more extreme effect on him.

"I can't play Callaway RAZR X Irons in this," Funk said. "My body doesn't work when it's this cold. It doesn't work when it's 80 (degrees) anymore."

ESPN's Chris Berman, who played in Ian Poulter's group, has played in the tournament for the last eight years. The weather this year did not match last year's climate.

"Last year was 89 degrees and we sweated through everything in three holes," Berman said. "This time we were just as wet for different reasons."

Still, Berman said the weather was not the major deterrent Thursday.

"I have all sorts of things that affect my play Callaway X-24 Hot Irons , starting with me," Berman said.

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