Players Championship Suspended Due to Weather; McIlroy Struggles, Ramey & Scheffler Lead

Play was suspended at The Players Championship on Friday due to inclement weather, with Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa and Adam Svensson of Canada tied for the lead at 8-under par when play resumes at 7 a.m.[0] At 8:[1] Golf Channel and Peacock will provide live TV and streaming coverage, respectively, of the resumption of the second round, followed by featured group coverage and a simulcast of the Golf Channel coverage.[2] The third round is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET, with NBC and Peacock providing live coverage.[1]

Rory McIlroy (+6 thru 10) had a double bogey on the sixth hole and was at 6 over for the tournament. He had eight shots to attempt to reduce his score by four strokes, likely needed to get him past the cut.[0] On the 10th hole, McIlroy posted a double bogey, and he was unable to improve his score from there. He scored two birdies and four bogeys for the remainder of the course.[3] He drove the ball onto the fairway only six times out of fourteen attempts, and[3] Rory McIlroy had 31 putts, resulting in a loss of more than 2.5 strokes on the[3] No putt of his exceeded 4 feet in length.[3]

Chad Ramey, a player ranked 225th in the world, stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight with a superbly crafted bogey-free opening round of eight-under-par 64 to claim the clubhouse lead.[4] Ramey's first tee shot, from 145 yards out, was too aggressive to the back-left pin, hitting the top shelf and bounding off the island green.[5] Ramey's third shot, from 90 yards away, had too much power and it went beyond the green, resulting in a splash in the water.[5]

Round 2 will begin again at 7 a[2] The estimated start time for the third round is 10:40 a.m. ET. At 8:[1] The advantage goes to Scottie Scheffler, who looked shaky early and settled into his round.[6] He birdied his last two holes of the day before play was suspended.[7] Jon Rahm, the world’s No. 1 player, missed his chance to compete due to a bad stomach bug, leaving himself vulnerable to being overtaken in the rankings by Scheffler and McIlroy.

0. “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

1. “Players Championship: Second round suspended, will re-start Saturday” Golfweek, 10 Mar. 2023, https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2023/03/10/2023-players-championship-second-round-suspended-due-to-inclement-weather

2. “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

3. “Players Championship: New PGA Tour names on the leaderboard ahead of Round 2 at TPC Sawgrass” ESPN, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/35822935/pga-tour-players-championship-2023-rahm-mcilroy-morikawa-ramey

4. “Rory McIlroy blames driver and human error for horror first round at The Players” The Irish Times, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/2023/03/09/rory-mcilroy-blames-driver-and-human-error-for-horror-first-round-at-the-players/

5. “Chad Ramey loses Players lead with disastrous showing at 17” Golf Channel, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.golfchannel.com/news/chad-ramey-loses-players-lead-disastrous-showing-17

6. “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

7. “Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry set to miss cut at storm-delayed Players Championship” Independent.ie, 11 Mar. 2023, https://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/rory-mcilroy-and-shane-lowry-set-to-miss-cut-at-storm-delayed-players-championship-42380933.html