VEDRA BEACH BRIDGE | It’s been a long time since we’ve seen three Canadians finish in the top 10 of a tournament the size of The Players. This also applies to the TPC Sawgrass after the second day of competition on Friday.
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Adam Svensson, Taylor Pendrith and Adam Hadwin play in the big peloton. Fully in possession of their funds, however, they were unable to complete this second round on the Stadium Course. Late in the afternoon, Mother Nature threatened to drive everyone off the course. The game is scheduled to resume at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.
For the Maple Leafs, Svensson had four birdies before the game was stopped and, with an overall record of -8 on the 11th pennant, tied for the lead with South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Not bad at all for a newcomer to Pete Dye’s Stadium Course.
“It was a really good day. I put my ball into the fairways and hit more greens on prescribed shots. I had good putts, analyzed the British Columbia native, who had more trouble reaching the greens in the first round.
“I played smart and put safety first,” he continued. And when it came time to be aggressive, I did. You must remain calm and patient on this course. »
This is all the more true as the wind has been troubling many of them throughout the day. Especially on the short and intimidating par 3 of the 17th, they had to be vigilant because of the crosswinds.
Collin Morikawa and two other golfers follow the Canadian, two strokes behind.
louder between the ears
Pendrith is in sixth place, tied on points with the impressive Scottie Scheffler.
He, too, has chosen patience on a course that does not forgive misconduct.
“I feel like I’m mentally stronger this week. On this course you have to be patient and attack in the right places, he explained.
“Once again I didn’t put myself in a bad position, that’s crucial,” added the player, who played par when the game was stopped at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
The wind blows
However, with the winds it was less effective than the day before from the hills. Instead of posting a perfect 100% rate, he was at 50% on his 10 tee shots.
“It’s still very good because the wind kept changing direction. The long hitter emphasized that it was very difficult to reach the aisles. I still remained patient while doing the normal ones. »
The second player in the world shares the same strategy as the Canadians. Instead of running into the wind without thinking, he swallowed his pill.
“This course is a place you think you can go after a while. The moment you decide to be too aggressive you need to stack the bogeys, especially when the wind is on. You just have to offer birdie chances and use them,” explained the 26-year-old American.
Behind Pendrith and Scheffler, 2016 edition champion Jason Day scores -4. He will be accompanied by Viktor Hovland and Hadwin, among others.
The third round is scheduled to begin around 10:40 a.m.