Associated Press6:31 PM ET4 Minute Read
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Chad Ramey was the only player to score double digits under par at the Players Championship. As usual, the TPC Sawgrass had the last word.
Ramey put two tee shots into the water on Friday’s 17th hole on the island green for a quintuple bogey that cost him a 3 shot lead in a day of wild swings and eventual wild weather.
The second round was halted as half the field failed to complete the round as a storm system was expected to dump half an inch of rain onto the Players Stadium Course.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa and Adam Svensson of Canada shared the lead at 8 under par, both doing everything they could to stay ahead of the course. They didn’t bogey on Friday – Bezuidenhout over 14 holes, Svensson over 11 holes – and they only have one for the week.
Ben Griffin was the manager of the clubhouse. The former mortgage loan officer, who had a tight call in Bermuda late last year, played an exquisite round until he double bogeyed his last hole for a 1-under-71.
Griffin was 6-under 138. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa was 6-under over 11 holes, while Min Woo Lee was 6-under with three holes remaining on his round.
“I’m glad that rain delay and thunder came in and let the putter rest for a bit and hopefully come out hot tomorrow,” Morikawa said.
Players were scheduled to return at 7 a.m. Saturday to complete the second round. The third round is scheduled for threes from both tees and should be completed before sunset. That depends on game pace, and some of that depends on Sawgrass.
Jon Rahm missed all of that. The world No. 1 player had a bad stomach problem and withdrew about 30 minutes before his start time. This puts his position at risk as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy can overtake him.
The advantage goes to Scheffler, who looked shaky early on and settled into his lap. He fucked his last two holes of the day before the suspension – Nos. 9 and 10 – to get under 5. He has a 15-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole when play resumes.
McIlroy, meanwhile, took a double bogey on the sixth hole and was out on 6 for the tournament. He had eight holes to try and shave off 4 punches that will likely be needed to make the cut.
Rahm made every cut last year, and most recently he missed a cut on the PGA Tour at the Fortinet Championship in September 2021, just before the Ryder Cup.
The course dished out some brutal penalties in the second lap.
Start with Max McGreevy, who was 20 shots worse than his opening round. He shot 89, setting the wrong course record for the highest TPC Sawgrass score. The other player who shot 89 was Michael Campbell in the first round in 2003.
Viktor Hovland was 5 under for his round through 11 holes and even paused when his tee shot on the par 3 17 ricocheted off the island’s wooden frame onto the green. But then he ran into trouble on his final seven holes and had to settle for a 71.
Hovland was 4-under-140 along with Will Gordon, 67, and the resurgent Jason Day, 70, a former world No. 1 who is slowly working his way back. Day started the year at world No. 112 and he might this week make a big move by ensuring he stays in the top 50 over the next two weeks to break into the Masters.
As for Jordan Spieth, he saw his tee shot in the air on his last hole on the par 5 ninth and thought it was time to clean out his locker. But instead of hitting the water – it was so far to the right that water isn’t normally involved – it hit a spectator in the leg and bounced back onto the fairway. Spieth hit a 3-wood on the collar of the green and chipped in for the eagle.
That allowed him to salvage a 75 and he was sure to make the cut.
“I had an extremely lucky break on the 9th. Otherwise I wouldn’t have played the weekend,” said Spieth, who had a par of 144. “I’m trying to get this guy’s information and literally see what he wants this weekend. Because everything from Here is on out because it hit him.”
Ramey opened with a 64 on Thursday and shagged two of his first three holes to reach 10-under and extend his lead to 3 shots. After his five-time bogey on the 17th, he had to make a 30-foot putt to save par on the 18th and then dropped another shot at first with a wild drive to the right. He was 4 under with eight holes remaining on his round.