Players Championship Heats Up with Rahm’s Withdrawal and Close Leaderboard Contest
On Friday, Jon Rahm withdrew from the Players Championship due to illness.[0] The World No. 1 had been hoping to make a strong showing in the tournament, but it was not to be. Meanwhile, Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa and Adam Svensson of Canada shared the lead at 8-under par when play was suspended.[1] Both players have done what it takes to stay in front on the course, having not made a bogey through 14 and 11 holes respectively.[2]
Jordan Spieth experienced a lucky break when his tee shot was headed toward water before bouncing off a spectator’s knee and back into the fairway.[3] He managed to chip in for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole, before signing for a second-round 73 for a 36-hole total of 5-over 149.[4]
Rory McIlroy was also plagued by his poor performance on the greens, ranking 125th in Strokes Gained: Putting, and 141st in Strokes Gained: Around the Green. He had 31 strokes in the opening round, making 42 feet of putts, and was 2 and a half strokes behind the rest of the players, coming in 142nd out of 144.[5]
Players were to resume their second rounds at 7 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the third round scheduled for threesomes off both tees and should be able to finish before sundown.[2] Once Round 2 is complete, Golf Channel will broadcast coverage of the event and determine who makes the cut and the tee times for Round 3.[6] Meanwhile, viewers can watch the third round of the Players Championship via PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ beginning at 7:45 a.m.[6] ET, or they can watch the telecast on Golf Channel at 7 a.m.[6] Beginning at 1 p.m., ET[7] [6]
The winner of the U.S. Open last year, Matt Fitzpatrick is at 3 over.[8] He started badly in the tournament and couldn’t overcome a rough opening round.[9] McIlroy meanwhile is trying to get a driver head that is as close to what he had last year, as these driver heads are “so finicky, it’s hard to get one exactly the same”.
The Players Championship is set to be an exciting tournament, with the leaderboard a close contest.
0. “McIlroy misses cut at Players, Lowry makes weekend” RTE.ie, 11 Mar. 2023, https://www.rte.ie/sport/golf/2023/0310/1361542-rahm-out-of-players-lowry-and-power-set-to-miss-cut
1. “Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Adam Svensson share lead at suspended PLAYERS Championship” PGA TOUR, 11 Mar. 2023, https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/daily-wrapup/2023/03/10/christiaan-bezuidenhout,-adam-svensson-share-lead-at-suspended-players-championship
2. “Round 2 of Players suspended, set to resume Saturday at TPC Sawgrass” Golf Channel, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.golfchannel.com/news/round-2-players-suspended-set-resume-saturday-tpc-sawgrass
3. “Jordan Spieth gets lucky break to make PLAYERS cut” PGA TOUR, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/latest/2023/03/10/spieth-gets-lucky-break-to-make-players-cut
4. “2023 Players Championship: Here are the notables, including Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut” Golfweek, 11 Mar. 2023, https://golfweek.usatoday.com/lists/2023-players-championship-miss-cut-rory-mcilroy-matt-fitzpatrick/
5. “Rory McIlroy tries to find form with new driver, opens with 76: ‘User error'” Golf Channel, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.golfchannel.com/news/rory-mcilroy-tries-find-form-new-driver-opens-76-user-error
6. “How to watch 2023 Players Championship on Saturday: Round 3” Golf.com, 11 Mar. 2023, https://golf.com/news/how-watch-2023-players-championship-saturday
7. “Players Championship suspended because of dangerous conditions” The Florida Times-Union, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.jacksonville.com/story/sports/pga/2023/03/10/the-players-pga-tour-postponed-tpc-second-round-rain-chad-ramey-collin-morikawa-benjamin-griffin/69995178007/
8. “Rory McIlroy misses cut at THE PLAYERS Championship” PGA TOUR, 11 Mar. 2023, https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/latest/2023/03/11/rory-mcilroy-misses-cut-at-the-players-championship
9. “Players Championship cut: Notable golfers may not make it to weekend” The Florida Times-Union, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.jacksonville.com/story/sports/golf/pga-tour/2023/03/10/players-championship-2023-notable-golfers-miss-cut-after-shortened-friday/69995354007
