KAPALUA, Maui » Another day, another start to the 2013 PGA Tour season blown away.

West Maui’s wild winds are wreaking havoc on the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Tour officials never allowed the golfers to get on the tee Saturday, with Kapalua’s Plantation Course pelted by gusts of up to 50 mph and persistent rain squalls.

Friday’s opening round of the season was wiped off the books with the first twosome eight holes into the round. Officials, who watched the wind blow a ball off the second green, characterized the course as "unplayable," erased all scores and scheduled two rounds for Saturday beginning at 7:30 a.m.

That was delayed an hour just before the first groups were to tee off. At 8:15 a.m., it was delayed another hour, and again at 9:15 a.m.

At approximately 10:20 a.m., officials made the decision to try again today. They hope to get in 36 holes, starting off split tees at 7:10 a.m., and play 18 on Monday’s final day, declaring a champion after 54 holes.

"We got balls rolling all over the green, so we have canceled play for the day … ," said tour official Slugger White. "We went out there this morning about 6:30. I dropped a ball on the 10th green, on the back of the green, just dropped it and it rolled 20 yards off the front of the green. We did have balls that were going uphill on 10 a foot and a half."

Winds are forecast a bit lighter today and tomorrow — 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 30. The relentless and pesky squalls are also expected to lighten.

In other words, it is expected to be more like the weather just around the corner from the Plantation Course.

"It’s difficult," said Hunter Mahan, who has qualified for the TOC three of the last six years. "We are in such a cool place and we can’t really do much. It’s strange when you go down the road 10 minutes and it’s great, it looks beautiful over there, but for some reason right here, it’s tough."

It is, as Bubba Watson claimed Friday, "goofy golf." Or, as we know it in Hawaii, a bit breezier than normal. Players describe the wind as "howling sideways." Golf balls are not the only things moving. Saturday, a cheesecake flew out of a food tent by the first tee.

Driving distance was measured on the third hole Friday — uphill, into the roaring gusts — and the average was 221 yards. There were 87 holes played before the round was scrapped and this elite field combined for 19 bogeys, seven double-bogeys and two "others." Three of the 12 birdies belonged to Webb Simpson, whose last swing got lost on the eighth hole.

Saturday, former tournament chairman Gary Planos said he had never seen the Kapalua weather so wild for so long. He found a huge satellite dish on the other side of his Kapalua yard this week. It had been secured for the last 15 years.

"I’ve seen worse weather," Planos said, "but it has never kept it unplayable for this long. … It’s sad."

Mahan lives in Texas and has never seen anything like it.

"I’ve seen wind blow and blow and blow, but I’ve never seen this kind of rain," he said. "It’s so unpredictable. It’s here and blows over, then it appears and blows over. We don’t know when it’s coming and we can’t predict when the gusts are coming and how long it’s going to happen for. That’s why it’s so difficult."

Mahan, like most of the 30 players, hit some balls, putted and "played on my phone and ate three meals" during the delays.

"It’s difficult to figure out if you want to go hit balls right now or wait till later or what you want to do," he said. "I think we all are trying to figure out what to do and what’s the best plan for us to get ready for the next two or three days."

Brandt Snedeker, ranked 10th in the world, has not struck an official shot in 2013. He is playing in the final group with defending champion Steve Stricker and they did not tee off Friday. Snedeker was happy with the officials’ decision.

"Yeah, they did do the right thing," he said. "It’s just a little too windy out there for us to play. If the course wasn’t so exposed, it wouldn’t be a problem, but you have a lot of greens exposed to 40-mile-an-hour wind gusts."

Mother Nature has not exactly been nurturing so far. If the TOC is able to get in three rounds, which makes it official, it would be the 27th 54-hole event on tour since 1990. Dustin Johnson won the last two (2011 Barclays and 2009 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am).

This tournament started in 1953 and has never been fewer than 72 holes. Until now.

"You definitely have to be a little more aggressive and think about it beforehand," Snedeker said. "Also, it’s going to be the guy that kind of gets hot tomorrow is going to have a big advantage, because you have 36 holes out here tomorrow, where if you get on a roll, you can make a lot of birdies and hopefully get things going in the right direction. So tomorrow is going to be a really big day."

The forecast says it will not be another blowout, but stranger things have happened. Cheesecakes fly.

The golfers seem to be at peace with their fate.

"There’s no regrets," Mahan said. "This is the place everyone wants to start the year at and this is a great place to be and they take great care of us. It’s still a beautiful place and I think we are all excited to be here and it’s just an anomaly and kind of a freak thing."

Notes

Gates open at 6:45 this morning and parking shuttles start at 6:30 a.m. Tickets from Friday and Saturday will be honored. Twosomes will not be re-paired for the afternoon round, officials said.

Today’s Sony Open in Hawaii prequalifier will tee off at 7:45 a.m. at Turtle Bay’s Palmer Course. The top 50 of 76 golfers will move on to Monday qualifying, beginning at 8 a.m. on the same course.

Among the 35 pros joining those 50 on Monday are Hawaii’s Dean Wilson and Scott Simpson, Russ Cochran, Duffy Waldorf, Billy Mayfair, Willie Wood, Frank Lickliter and Tom Pernice.

Among those in the prequalifier are Tadd Fujikawa, Alex Ching, Kalena Preus and Lorens Chan — playing together in a 10:15 a.m. foursome — along with Alex Chiarella, TJ Kua, Sean Maekawa, John Oda, Cory Oride, Nick Mason, Alika Bell, Jared Sawada and Tony and Gipper Finau.

The top four Monday play in the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of the year, starting Thursday at Waialae Country Club.