The way things are going here this week, a playoff seems inevitable.

We know at this point there will be Monday golf, either way. According to USGA director of rules and competitions Mike Davis, there are light showers in the forecast, but he’s thinking play will be able to continue until 8 p.m.

They want to begin Round 4 at 5:30 p.m. and go until dark. Play will resume in the morning, although there is no set time yet.

“Believe it or not, this course can keep handling this type of rain, as long as it’s not a complete downpour,” Davis said. “The water is seeping down. It’s very sandy soil, so that’s the great part. If we were at some other U.S. Open venues right now and this kind of rain was happening, I can’t even begin to think what we’d be doing.”

There is a scenario, though, where the U.S. Open could finish up on Tuesday for the first time in history.

“A playoff would take no more than four hours, maybe three hours, 45 minutes, max,” Davis said. “But if somehow we were delated tomorrow, and we got up to roughly 4 p.m., we would not start a playoff. The last thing we want to do is have a playoff where they might have to come back the next morning just to finish a few holes, so we would have it on Tuesday morning. But based on the weather forecast, we really believe that we could get a playoff in tomorrow afternoon.”

By the way, at 11:54 a.m., third-round play got under way. There’s Phil Mickelson in the rough now. Go turn on the TV, but check back for updates.

To avoid the kind of public relations disaster that slowed the USGA down on Friday, the situation is being spelled out very clearly going forward.

Here’s the latest from the powers that be:

For play on Monday (conclusion of Round 4 and playoff, if necessary), spectators holding Thursday or Monday tickets will be admitted to the course through the Admission Gates.

Individuals who purchased tickets at the pre-championship on-site sale (June 11-14) will need to show their receipt at Will Call.

The front responsible for making this a U.S. Open memorable for all the wrong reasons, continues to spin wave after wave of rain over Bethpage Black.

It’s going to be at least noon before they play golf.

And when a trophy is awarded, they need to bring every member of the grounds crew out so they can all pose with the winner. This championship will not be over until Monday.

It’s now a lock.

According to Mike Davis of the USGA, there is another tenth of an inch of rain coming before 10 a.m. The gates will open at 11 a.m. Golfers will head out and be in place around noon, play will continue as long as possible.

If they complete the third round, it will take about an hour to re-pair the field and reset the pins. They do plan to start the final round and play into the darkness. Don’t forget, it’s the longest day of the year. Whatever is left, will be completed tomorrow.

Happy Father’s Day.

Exactly 60 players survived to play the weekend. Oh, wait a minute. This is the weekend.

Third-round play is scheduled to get under way at 5:30 p.m. They are sending golfers out in twos off Nos. 1 and 10, and the leaders will all be starting on the front side.

So much for date night. Get some popcorn ready.

Tigers starts on 10 at 6:42 p.m. Phil starts on 1 at 6:34 p.m. The plan is to go until darkness falls.

Andrew Svoboda came out looking to make birdies. There was quite a bit of ground to make up after opening with an 80, and he was able to climb.

The Larchmont resident was 3-under through seven holes today before he ran into trouble.

A double bogey at the eighth stole the momentum. Svoboda lost strokes on Nos. 9 and 10, as well and wound up carding a 4-over 74.

“I knew I had to shoot 3- or 4-under today,” he said. “I was 3-under through 7, but 8, 9 and 10 just hurt.

“We had the tough end of the draw for sure. Those guys had it made yesterday — no rain, no wind. Even today it was tough for us. We had rain. Sometimes you’re on the right end, sometimes your on the wrong end.”

So how do you pass time after completing 36 holes over three days at the U.S. Open?

Lucas Glover had plans after leaving Bethpage 7-under and one shot off the lead. He got to sleep around 11:30 last night and was back up at 4:50 this morning.

”(I’ll) go take another nap,” he said. “But, yeah, I got some time to kill. So hit the grocery store and get some food for the bag and get a little sleep.”

Andrew Svoboda celebrated the start of the second round with a birdie on the first hole, but there’s a long way to go before he is on the right side of the cut line.

He did receive some good news, though.

Svoboda got into a third Nationwide Tour event, according to Frank Darby, his former coach at St. John’s. The Larchmont resident plans to play next week in the Nationwide Tour Players Cup at Pete Dye Golf Club in West Virginia.

How much do you suppose Tiger Woods is aching to be a ranger for just a couple of minutes, riding around in a cart politely urging his fellow competitors to pick up the pace of play?

The defending champion will start his second round three days into the U.S. Open championship 12 shots behind.

Ouch.

Right now, the sun is winning a losing battle with the clouds. Woods is heading for the tee, and we need about six hours to get the second round over and done with. If another inch of rain falls through a long, dark night, the biggest concern will not be the course, but the infrastructure.

Did you know mud can move bleachers?

They just handed out an update regarding those pesky tickets issues.

I’ll post it verbatim to avoid confusion:

“We have continued to review our ticket policy as well as listen to fans and state officials. With this unprecedented bad weather we strive to accommodate as many spectators on the golf course as possible. We place a priority on the safety of our spectators and their overall experience of the U.S. Open Championship.

Fans who purchased Thursday tickets will be welcome to attend Monday play. If there is no Monday golf, Thursday ticket purchasers will be entitled to a 50 percent refund on the price of their Thursday ticket.

We want to be clear about the ticket policy for Saturday and Sunday. If 90 minutes or more of golf are played on Saturday or Sunday, daily tickets for that day will not be refunded or exchanged. If less than 90 minutes of golf are played on either Saturday or Sunday, ticket holders for that day will be welcomed onto the course for subsequent golf.”

For updated information, visit the official U.S. Open website.

Andrew Svoboda finished up a little while ago, signed for an 80, and began to prepare for a better day tomorrow.

Weather permitting, of course.

“I’m doing fine,” the Larchmont resident said. “I’m just upset I didn’t play very well, so I want to come out here tomorrow and be real aggressive, try to make something happen. I have to shoot a real good round, which I can do. I’m hitting it great. I just got off to such a bad start yesterday in the rain, and today, I played really well.”

Svoboda was 7-over when play was stopped yesterday, and really made just one mistake today. He drove into the fescue on the fifth hole, lost the ball and suffered a triple bogey.

“When you’re having a bad hole you have to salvage a bogey and move on,” he said. “I didn’t hit a bad shot on 5, it came out a little left and went in that fescue.”

It’s pretty clear Svoboda isn’t getting caught up in the experience of playing in the U.S. Open. He’s been here before. Twice. Svoboda, who’s got a small gallery of Old Oaks members following him around, really wants to show what he can do.

“Those holes where you’re holding a scoring club, you have to hit them close and make birdie on those five holes,” he said. “And the other holes, you have to get lucky, play for par and maybe drop a long putt.”