Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Chad became the only player to reach double digits under par at the Rummy Players Championship. TPC Sawgrass, as always, had the final say.
Ramey hit two tee-shots into the water on the Island-Green 17th hole on Friday, giving him a 3-shot lead on a day of wild swings and, finally, wild weather.
The second round was suspended with half the field unable to finish due to an expected half-inch of rain on the Players Stadium course.
South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Canada’s Adam Svensson share the lead with 8-under par, both doing what they can to stay ahead of the curve. They didn’t make a bogey on Friday — Bezuidenhout had 14 holes, Svensson 11 — and they only have one for the week.
Ben Griffin was the leader of the clubhouse. The former mortgage loan officer, who already had a close call at Bermuda late last year, was playing an excellent round until taking a double bogey on his final hole for 1-under 71.
Griffin was at 6-under 138. Two-time major champion Colin Morikawa was 6 under through 11 holes, while Min Woo Lee was 6 under with three holes remaining in his round.
Morikawa said, “Glad to have this rain delay and thunderstorm to let the putter have a bit of a rest and hopefully it’ll be hotter tomorrow.”
The players were to return at 7 am on Saturday to complete the second round. The third round is scheduled for threes from both tees and should be able to finish before sunset. It depends on the pace of the game, and some of that depends on Sagarus.
Jon Rahm missed it all. The world No. 1 had a stomach upset and withdrew about 30 minutes before his scheduled time. This puts his ranking at risk, as Scotty Scheffler and Rory McIlroy could overtake him.
The advantage goes to Scheffler, who looked shaky early on and settled into his run. He birdied his last two holes of the day – no. Birdies on 9 and 10 made it to under-5. When play resumes, he has a 15-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole.
Meanwhile, McIlroy double bogeyed the sixth hole and was 6 over for the tournament. He had eight holes to try to make the 4 stroke cut that would likely be needed to make the cut.
Rahm made every cut last year, and he last missed the cut on the PGA Tour at the Fortinet Championship in September 2021, just before the Ryder Cup.
The course served some brutal penalties in the second round.
Start with Max McGreevy, who was 20 shots worse than his opening round. He scored an 89, tying the errant course record as the highest score posted at TPC Sawgrass. The other player to score an 89 was Michael Campbell in the first round in 2003.
Victor Hovland was 5 under for his round through 11 holes, even getting a break when his tee shot bounced off the wood frame and green of the par-3 17th. But then he ran into trouble on his last seven holes and had to be content with a 71.
Hovland was at 4-under 140 alongside Will Gordon (67) and a resurgent Jason Day (70), the former world No. 1 who is slowly working his way back. Dey started the year ranked world No. 112 and could make a big move this week to assure he remains in the top 50 for the next two weeks to enter the Masters.
As for Jordan Spieth, he saw his tee shot wind up on his final hole on the par-5 ninth and figured it was time to clean out his locker. But instead of going into the water – it was right yet water is not usually in sports – it struck a spectator in the leg and came back to the fairway. Spieth hit a 3-wood to the collar of the green and chipped in for eagle.
This allowed him to defend 75, and he was safe to make the cut.
“I got an extremely lucky break on the 9th or I wouldn’t be playing the weekend,” said Spieth, who shot a par of 144. Out here because it hit him.”
Remy opened Thursday with a 64 and birdied two of his first three holes to move to 10-under, extending his lead to three strokes. After his quintuple bogey on the 17th, he had to make a 30-foot putt on the 18th to save par, and then dropped another with a wild drive to the right on the first shot. He was 4 under with eight holes remaining in his round.
