Storms interrupt some of the chaos at Players Championship
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Chad Ramey became the only player to reach double digits under par at The Players Championship. The TPC Sawgrass, as usual, had the final say.
Ramey put two tee shots in the water on the island-green 17th hole Friday for a quintuple-bogey that cost him a three-shot lead on a day of wild swings and, eventually, wild weather.
The second round was suspended with half the field unable to finish the round because of a storm system expected to dump a half-inch of rain on the Players Stadium Course.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout and
Adam Svensson shared the lead at 8-under par, both doing what it takes to stay in front on this course. They didn’t make a bogey Friday — Bezuidenhout through 14 holes, Svensson through 11 holes — and they have only one for the week.
Ben Griffin was the clubhouse leader. The former mortgage loan officer, who already had one close call in Bermuda late last year, was playing an exquisite round until taking double bogey on his final hole for a 1-under 71.
Griffin was at 6-under 138. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa was 6 under through 11 holes, while Min Woo Lee was at 6 under with three holes left in his round.
“Kind of glad this rain delay and thunder came in and let the putter rest a little bit and hopefully come out hot tomorrow,” Morikawa said.
Players were to return at 7 a.m. today to finish the second round. The third round is schedule for threesomes off both tees and should be able to finish before sundown. That depends on the pace of play, and some of that depends on Sawgrass.
Jon Rahm missed all of this. The world’s No. 1 player had a bad stomach bug and withdrew about 30 minutes before his tee time. That puts his ranking in jeopardy, as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy can overtake him.