High winds play havoc after days of rain at Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. At least it stopped raining.

Fifty-five hours and 16 minutes passed from the scheduled start of the first round of The Players Championship to its completion on Saturday afternoon, thanks to an unrelenting storm system that stalled over northeastern Florida the last two days.

But then it got windy.

Those who did play on Saturday faced likes up to 70 km/h at TPC Sawgrass, already considered one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. And an already long weekend is set to get longer, as Sunday’s temperatures are supposed to top out at 9 C.

“You’re talking about an extreme day today,” said multi-time major winner Brooks Koepka, whose 9-over 81 was tied for Saturday’s worst round.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished at 4-over for two rounds and it’s likely he’ll miss the cut, although dozens of golfers had yet to complete 36 holes. Through Saturday, he was the only Canadian to have finished two rounds.

Saturday was hard, Hughes said, but he also didn’t manage his game well. It was a brutal combination. More than 20 balls found the water on the par-3 17th — which features an island green — including one from Hughes. He also nearly lost his tee shot on the par-4 fourth hole. It found land, but plugged in thick rough and was barely found.

Hughes added that he hit a full-out 6-iron 160 yards for his approach on the par-4 18th. His stock yardage for that club is 200 yards.

“I don’t feel comfortable. Don’t feel comfortable with my swing, my putting, and then add (high winds) and … it’s a pretty hard game,” he said. “I fought, but I made some bad bogeys coming in. You’re just fighting all day, and then when you’re in the rough it’s pretty disappointing.”

Tom Hoge, whose second round will start Sunday, and Tommy Fleetwood, who got in just three holes Saturday, continued to lead at 6-under. Bubba Watson shot the low round of the day, 4-under 68. He and defending champion Justin Thomas (3-under 69) were the only golfers to go bogey free in the second round.

There has never been a back-to-back winner at The Players, but Thomas is in a solid position through 36 holes. He called his second round one of the best he’s ever played.

TPC Sawgrass endured about 12 centimeters of rain from Monday to Saturday, more than the normal local rainfall for the entire month of March. Hughes was impressed by how playable the course was.

“There are tons of ways to make a (big) number out there,” he said, “but the course has held up pretty well considering all that’s happened.”

Fellow Canadians Corey Conners (2 under) and Taylor Pendrith (4 under) will start their second rounds Sunday morning. Even though Pendrith didn’t hit a shot Saturday, he sat tied for sixth, just two shots back of the lead.

Two Canadians managed to start their second rounds Saturday, with one nearly finishing.

Adam Hadwin put a bow on a first-round 72 at midday, then had 22 minutes before his second-round tee time. He made it to the par-5 16th before it got too dark to continue. He was 1 over for the championship, with the expected cut line set at even par. Roger Sloan, meanwhile, was at 2 under through three holes and 1 under for the tournament.

The tournament is set to have its first Monday finish since 2005.