The whims of Mother Nature frankly annoyed the opening round of the PGA Tour Players Championship on Thursday, played at Ponte Vedra Beach in northeast Florida. Deadlines and interruptions in play have resulted in backlogs that are hard to catch up on.
Especially since the weather conditions will not improve until Saturday, while a cold front will cross Florida until late morning. Nothing to help the schedule, which will be disrupted. The specter of a final round played on Monday is among the more than likely scenarios.
After the bad weather on Thursday, a similar fate is still reserved for this second day of competition, Friday. The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass will continue to be swept by thunderstorms and torrential rain. Precipitation is still expected to exceed 30 millimeters of water.
It is therefore a safe bet that it will be difficult to complete the first round, which was interrupted due to darkness around 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, after delays totaling more than five hours.
The first departures had been delayed for a good hour in the morning before play was interrupted at 11 a.m. It then did not resume until 3:15 p.m.
Sixty-nine of the 144 golfers managed to complete the first round. Seventeen could not even start while 58 have not yet finished. Of the lot, the vast majority have only a few holes on the counter.
As an indication, Will Zalatoris took the start at 6:56 a.m. on Thursday morning. He stalled his final putt at around 5:15 p.m., more than 10 hours later.
“When you have to wake up at 3:30 a.m. and you finish at that time, under these conditions, it’s not easy. You always have to be ready to return to the game,” explained the young 25-year-old golfer.
“It will be the same tomorrow [vendredi], he continued. I expect to start very late if I manage to get my round going and maybe play a few holes, at best. It will therefore be a similar day where we will have to be ready.
Zalatoris still managed to sign a first card of 69 (-3) which temporarily tied him for 11th place.
Paying tenderness
The rain that softened the Stadium Course allowed some golfers to play darts with the flags. This is particularly the case of the leaders, Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge, who each recorded a score of 66 (-6).
“I’m delighted to have been able to post this score in these conditions. With a few exceptions, I think I hit the ball well, made good short approaches and did well with my putter, summed up Fleetwood, author of seven birdies, including three in a row. This type of day is satisfying.”
Like Zalatoris, the Englishman believes he won’t start on Friday due to the weather forecast as he was due to play in the afternoon heat.
Hoge does not exclude any scenario. He is ready for as long a weekend as that initial day.
“We don’t know if it will be a 72 or 54 hole tournament, but we have to take every opportunity to play with this uncertain weather. At all times, you have to be ready to go out, because you don’t know exactly when your next departure will be.
Satané triple in the 17th
Harold Varner III was sailing towards the pavilion two shots ahead of the pack when he settled on the mound of the famous par 3 of the 17th hole. Hesitating on his choice of sticks, he sent his ball into the water because of a too pronounced retro effect. It was the first ball in the fleet of the day after the passage of fifty golfers.
His second attempt ended up a few centimeters from the edge of the peninsula. “HV3” finally put an infamous triple bogey on their card, which sent them down to No. 11 at -3.
In his first participation in the Players, the Canadian Taylor Pendrith appears in the seventh provisional rank. He struck four par to the 16th pennant.
He should complete his round on Friday morning.
