The Players Championship, the most important event on the PGA Tour apart from the majors, will definitely not end before Monday in 2022. With the first round already dragging on for two days and still not finished, Chief Referee Gary Young said on Friday afternoon (local time): “We are into a Monday finish. We know that.”
For the first time since 2005, the Players Championship will thus not finish on Sunday as scheduled, but on Monday at the earliest. It is already clear, Young said, that there will not be enough time for a potential play-off on Sunday. The play-off would be played over three holes and is therefore more time-consuming than usual.
The first round of the Players Championship is still in progress
But first the first round has to be finished. After not even half of the field played 18 holes on Thursday, the weather chaos continued seamlessly on Friday. Still 47 players have not finished the first round. More rain has already been forecasted for Saturday morning, so play will definitely not resume before 11 am (local time).
In his statement on Friday afternoon, Young also said that more than 3 inches of rain had fallen on the TPC Sawgrass in the last 48 hours. At times, the course was flooded in some places. It was only thanks to the help of numerous helpers who cleared the greens of standing water that play could begin at all on Friday. No further precipitation is forecast for Saturday afternoon and Sunday so far.
Play @THEPLAYERSChamp has been suspended for the day and will not resume until 11 a.m. ET on Saturday at the earliest. pic.twitter.com/oKhyN9HmhQ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 11, 2022