(REUTERS) – The richest occasion within the sport was compelling viewing on Saturday (March 12) as {the golfing} gods dished up among the most punishing circumstances in event historical past on the US$20 million (S$27.3 million) Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Just 48 of 143 golfers managed to show of their second-round playing cards on what was initially purported to be Day 3 of the event.
Instead, after a suspension of play on Day 1 on Thursday and no competitors held Friday due to rain and poor course circumstances, Saturday was all about getting as a lot golf in as doable regardless of swirling winds that despatched scores hovering.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and American Tom Hoge shared the first-round lead on six-under 66.
The second spherical shall be accomplished on Sunday, when the wind shall be blowing once more, although not fairly as strongly.
Officials have already introduced a Monday end.
Cold winds gusting to 40mph (64 kmh) examined the world’s finest gamers on the treacherous TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course when the primary spherical on the weather-plagued event resumed simply after excessive midday.
With water lurking round each nook ready to gobble errant or generally simply plain unfortunate photographs, gamers knew it was going to be robust sledging. It didn’t take lengthy to learn how robust.
You rapidly knew it might no extraordinary day within the workplace when the primary 4 gamers to hit on the well-known island-green par-three seventeenth – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa – all discovered the water with their tee photographs.
That was as many balls within the water in a couple of minutes as throughout the complete event to that time.
“There’s nothing you can do. It was all gust-dependent,” mentioned four-time Major winner Koepka.
Olympic champion Schauffele’s eight iron was so large his ball was all the time extra prone to hit one of many lake’s resident alligators than the inexperienced.
He bogeyed the opening and subsequently made a quadruple bogey on the par-four 18th, dropping from ninth to ninetieth within the area of two holes.
At least he negotiated the 18th higher in his second spherical later within the day, with a triple bogey.
“I don’t know I’ve ever played two holes harder than that,”mentioned one participant, Keegan Bradley, a Major winner on the 2011 PGA Championship.
Added Kevin Kisner: “It’s pure luck and it considerably misplaced the integrity of the event in my view.
“When I got to 17 and 18 you could hardly stand up, much less hit a golf shot.”
Fleetwood was even par for the three holes he performed on Saturday and Hoge by no means obtained began.
Among gamers who’ve accomplished two rounds, Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson are at three-under 141, with 4 gamers – Russell Henley, Kisner, Daniel Berger and Dustin Johnson – a shot again.
“It was very weird, obviously hard to get into a rhythm,” Thomas mentioned.
“Had a whole lot of completely different feelings; first off pondering it appears like we have been on the correct facet of the draw and being fairly enthusiastic about that, after which realising that was very a lot not the very fact after which simply having to recover from that as fast as I might as a result of it’s clearly irritating, particularly after I really feel like I’m taking part in effectively, type of getting simply thrown into one thing like that.
“I’m thrilled with how I played and how I competed today. It was a very, very tough day, and I just stayed very patient and executed well.”
Scores have been notably increased on Saturday, with excessive winds and tough course circumstances making issues difficult.
Among those that have completed two rounds, solely Watson (68) and Thomas (69) have been in a position to break par.
“It was one of those days you had to trust and you had to be committed to your shots, even if they go wild,” Watson mentioned.
“The key for me, although, is making putts. When I can begin making some putts, which I did at present, that’s actually the important thing to any spherical for me.
“I hit some wayward shots, maybe not because of me but because of the conditions. But I made the putts, and that’s really what kept the whole round going all the time.”
The post Golf: First 4 tee photographs discover water at well-known Sawgrass island inexperienced, closing two rounds on Monday first appeared on Umorr.
