The ANZ Championship, a unique stableford tournament co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian PGA Tours, will proceed as planned tomorrow despite the torrential rain that threatened to sink the event.
Organisers of the tournament, to be staged at the appropriately named The Lakes course in southern Sydney, said play would begin as planned.
"The golf course is looking fantastic considering the amount of rain it has sustained in the past few days . . . everything is geared to go," tournament director Trevor Herden said.
More than 300 millimetres of rain has fallen on Sydney in the past two days.
The final round would have been played next Monday if rain delayed the start but better weather today raised hopes of the event going ahead as scheduled.
The course layout is built on sand and drained so well that players were able to have a practice round.
More than 70 European-based players have come to Australia for the first official stableford tournament on the European Tour in a decade.
Instead of the normal stroke system, where the winner is decided by adding up the total number of shots over four days, players will be awarded or deducted points for the number of shots taken on each hole to par.
An albatross is worth eight points, an eagle is worth five and a birdie worth two.
No points are awarded for pars but a point is deducted for each bogey, two points deducted for a double bogey and three points for anything worse.