We wrote a preview of The Players Championship nearly a week ago. Players have yet to complete even 40 holes. The TPC at Sawgrass has seen a lot of weather and fans have seen very little golf. Even a Monday finish seems unlikely – we may be looking at a Tuesday finish before a champion is crowned.
Luke Donald, currently leading at -11, played all of nine holes on Sunday: six to complete his second round, and three more in his third before the all-too-familiar horn blew, signalling the end of play. He shares the 39-ish hole lead with journeyman Joe Durant. Tim Herron, defending champ Adam Scott, Lee Westwood, and Zach Johnson sit one stroke back.
Currently, the plan is simple: play will resume Monday morning at 7:15am. Players will play as much golf as possible, not repairing to play the fourth round. If more than half of the field finishes 72 holes, then a Tuesday finish is guaranteed by PGA Tour rules. If less than half of the field finishes, we may see the tournament cut to 54 holes. There’s Bellsouth and the Tavistock Cup to think of, after all.
Things aren’t quite that simple, of course, at The Players Championship. Often called “the fifth major,” The Players has a lot of cachet. It’s a big tournament to the players, and it offers up a five-year exemption over the standard two-year exemption a “normal” PGA Tour victory offers. On Friday, the four players on the PGA Tour policy board gave Tim Finchem the power to extend the championship to Tuesday if necessary. “We feel like if this tournament is of the stature that most believe it is, we should make every effort to get in 72 holes,” said Joe Durant, a membeer of the board. David Toms, Davis Love III, and Scott McCarron are the other three, and both Toms and Love were quoted as being heavily in favor of playing all four rounds.
Not every player feels as though a Tuesday finish makes sense. Tim Herron, one off the lead, said “I guess the board voted on that during the tournament. I think that’s kind of different, to vote on something while play has already been played. They’re going to tell us something, you’re going to have to do it. An opinion is just an opinion. I’m not the commissioner.”
Durant noticed that players were beginning to grumble a bit, and said:
After I had a chance to reflect on what I said, I should have thought more about it before I spoke. We have regulations in place that are to tell us what to do in situations like this. But in a tournament of this magnitude, where you’re awarding a five-year exemption, it’s not a typical tournament. I stick by my decision. This tournament is a notch above.
Steve Jones shot a 43 on the back nine in his second round and currently sits at -3. Tiger Woods extended his cut streak to 140 but by the skin of his teeth, finishing on the number at -1 after his final eight holes included a double bogey at the par-5 eleventh. This is Tiger’s closest call since finishing on the number at the 2003 Masters.
The defending champ, Adam Scott, is looking to beat history. The best finish following a win the previous year is a tie for fifth, and Scott is currently T3. He said of the weather “Everyone wants to be out there playing and getting on with the tournament. It’s such a great event, and it’s a shame it’s been spoiled by rain. If it means going out on Tuesday, I think that’s the right thing to do.” Scott won the 36-hole rain-shortened Nissan event earlier this year.
The last PGA Tour event to end on a Tuesday was the 1980 Tucscon Open. Way back then, they hadn’t even invented Wednesday yet. We can’t say it much better than the AP: “And for those who believe the Players Championship should be moved to May? At this rate, it might end in May.”
Pos Player R3 Thru Tot T1 Joe Durant -1 3 -11 T1 Luke Donald -1 3 -11 T3 Adam Scott -3 4 -10 T3 Tim Herron E 4 -10 T3 Zach Johnson -1 3 -10 T3 Lee Westwood E 3 -10 7 Stewart Cink -3 6 -9 T8 Jay Haas -2 6 -8 T8 Steve Elkington -2 6 -8 T8 Bob Tway -2 5 -8 T8 Graeme McDowell -1 4 -8 T8 Kirk Triplett E 3 -8
Notables T13 Retief Goosen -2 8 -7 T13 Phil Mickelson -1 6 -7 T24 Davis Love III E 4 -6 T28 David Toms -2 11 -5 T32 Ernie Els -2 8 -4 T41 Sergio Garcia E 10 -3 T41 Padraig Harrington +1 9 -3 T52 Vijay Singh +1 11 -2 T52 Tiger Woods -1 4 -2
NBC will cover The Players Championship beginning at 2pm Monday.