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PGA Tour

Players Championship Video: Different kind of entertainment at 17

At the Players Championship 2022 on the PGA Tour, hardly any golf can be played because of the weather. So there will be other ways to pass the time. (Photo: Twitter/@PGATOUR)
At the Players Championship 2022 on the PGA Tour, hardly any golf can be played because of the weather. So there will be other ways to pass the time. (Photo: Twitter/@PGATOUR)

On the second day of the Players Championship 2022, hardly any golf could be played due to the weather. Continuous rain and thunderstorms ruled the stage in Florida, where the tournament with the highest prize money in golf is supposed to be played. In fact, even after two days, almost 50 players have not yet finished the first round and the flagship event of the PGA Tour will not be decided before Monday.

Players Championship: Entertainment at 17

The persistent rain made the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass non-playable, but it could be used for fun of a different kind. At the 17 with the spectacular island green, it was not the players who put on a show for the fans this time. The wet terrain was turned into a sliding area.

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Highlights Tours

PGA Tour: Players Championship 2022 to end on Monday

Heavy rain and thunderstorms have delayed the Players Championship 2022. (Photo: Getty Images)

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.

Full Leaderboard Players Championship 2022

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.

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PGA Tour

Weather chaos at the Players Championship: Here’s how the second day is planned

Dark clouds over the TPC Sawgrass: This is how it will probably look on the second day of the Players Championship 2022 on the PGA Tour. (Photo: Getty)
Dark clouds over the TPC Sawgrass: This is how it will probably look on the second day of the Players Championship 2022 on the PGA Tour. (Photo: Getty)

Patience was needed on the first day of the Players Championship 2022. Due to a large rain and thunderstorm front, the golfers on the PGA Tour first had to wait an hour for their starting times and eventually pass the time in an interruption lasting over four hours. As a result, many players had not yet finished their first round, while others had not even started. Therefore, on Friday, for which rain is again forecast, the first round will be finished first before the players start on their second round.

Players Championship Video: Ian Poulter in a race with darkness

The start times for the first round are scheduled for 07:15 local time (12:15 p..m. GMT). Only 69 players have already handed in their scorecards, twelve players had not even started yet. The last groups will start from the first and 10th tees on Friday morning at 7:26 a.m. local time (12:26 p.m. GMT) on the Players Stadium Course.

The second day of the Players Championship on the PGA Tour

The second round of the Players Championship is scheduled to start on Friday at around 11 a.m. local time (4 p.m. GMT). Whether everything can go ahead as planned will only become clear in the further course of the day. Interruptions are also to be expected on the second day on the PGA Tour, as the worst weather conditions of all tournament days are forecast for the day.

The weather at the Players Championship 2022: Is a Monday Finish looming?
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PGA Tour

The weather at the Players Championship 2022: Is a Monday Finish looming?

Will there be a Monday finish at the Players Championship (foto Getty)
Will there be a Monday finish at the Players Championship (foto Getty)

An hour later start and a thunderstorm interruption of over four hours: That was the first day of the Players Championship 2022 at TPC Sawgrass. What will the weather be like on the coming days of the PGA Tour’s most valuable tournament? And above all, in view of the already large shift in tee times: Will the tournament be able to be completed by Sunday or can a Monday finish be expected?

Even before the start of the Players Championship, the weather forecast looked anything but rosy. After the most beautiful weather in Florida prevailed in the past weeks, cool temperatures, rain and above all thunderstorms threatened for the Players Championship. The first effects were already felt on Thursday, but that was not all.

Players Championship 2022: More thunderstorms expected

On Friday, the worst weather conditions are expected, with a 90 percent chance of thunderstorms. Thunder and lightning may continue to occur through Saturday, with clearing not expected until midday Saturday. Sunday is the only tournament day where no rain is expected. But the temperatures will drop. With a predicted maximum temperature of 12 degrees Celsius, it could be the coldest day in tournament history.

In addition, the wind is expected to increase and could be a challenge for the players, especially on Saturday. The fact that the wind is expected to come in four different directions during the tournament doesn’t make things any easier.

PGA Tour Meterologist Wade Stettner expressed optimism all things considered, however. “I think they’ll be able to play some golf every day. Also, the amount of rain we’re expecting doesn’t look like so much that the course will be unplayable because the drainage is good and there’s technology installed to pull the moisture out of the greens.”

Will there be a Monday Finish at the Players Championship?

If the cut is decided, there’s also the possibility of speeding up play over the weekend by sticking with flights of three and starting two tees. So while a Monday finish is not yet necessarily expected, it remains to be seen.

The last time there was a Monday Finish at the Players Championship was in 2005. After a nice first day, the second round was a complete washout. Some players went on the course, but their results were cancelled and the round was restarted on Saturday. However, there were also repeated interruptions during the weekend, so that a large part of the third round and the complete fourth round had to be played on Monday. The tournament even threatened to drag into Tuesday because of a playoff between Fred Funk, Tom Lehman, Luke Donald and Joe Durant, but Funk secured the win with a par putt.

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PGA Tour

Players Championship Video: Ian Poulter in a race with darkness

Ian Poulter in a race against darkness at the Players Championship (foto Getty)
Ian Poulter in a race against darkness at the Players Championship (foto Getty)

Ian Poulter was in a particular hurry in the first round of the Players Championship on the PGA Tour. Due to the thunderstorm interruptions, the round could not be played to the end. But Poulter, who was already on his last few holes, didn’t want to get up at the crack of dawn on Friday just to finish one more hole and then wait who knows how long. So speed was the order of the day.

Players Championship: Darkness gets players going

Players use this strategy from time to time. The reason for this is that once a player has teed off on a hole, the hole may be finished if the round is interrupted due to darkness, should the players wish to do so. The situation is different if the round is interrupted due to thunderstorms. Because of the dangerous situation, players have no choice.

The speed did not harm the Ryder Cupper. Almost it would have been two birdies to finish. After winning the stroke on 17, he almost holed a chip from 15 yards for birdie on 18, but the ball stayed less than 20 inches from the hole. He eventually holed it for a round of 73.

It’s actually not the first time Poulter has rushed the final holes at TPC Sawgrass, either. There were similar images at the 2011 Players Championship:

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PGA Tour

Players Championship: Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama WDs

Hideki Matsuyama withdraws from The Players Championship. (Photo: Getty)
Hideki Matsuyama withdraws from The Players Championship. (Photo: Getty)

The flagship tournament of the PGA Tour, the Players Championship, started on Thursday morning local time in Florida. At the TPC Sawgrass, however, the fans will have to do without another top-class player. Hideki Matsuyama has cancelled his participation in the “fifth major” at short notice due to injury.

Players Championship: Hideki Matsuyama withdraws

The Japanese player is suffering from a “persistent back injury”, the PGA Tour announced. Hideki Matsuyama was supposed to play the first two rounds at TPC Sawgrass together with Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith. However, due to the injury of the reigning Masters champion, Patrick Rodgers will now tee off for Matsuyama.

Matsuyama already with two wins on the PGA Tour this season

Matsuyama is generally in good form this season. The 30-year-old won already two times on the PGA Tour and recorded two top-10 finishes. Most recently he finished tied for 20th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. As a result, the FedExCup runner-up was considered one of the favourites to win the Players Championship. Matsuyama stood at the top of the leaderboard when the tournament was cut short by corona in 2020. After Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods, Matsuyama is thus the next well-known professional to miss the tournament. In a few weeks, the first Major of the year will begin for professional golfers. At Augusta National, Matsuyama will tee off as the defending champion. How serious the injury of the Japanese Major winner is and whether his participation in the Masters is in danger is still unclear at the moment.

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PGA Tour

Watch out for these golfers at the Players Championship 2022

Players to watch out for at the Players Championship. (Photo: Getty)
Players to watch out for at the Players Championship. (Photo: Getty)

The Players Championship is also called the “fifth major”. It is the first highlight of the year and the tournament with the largest prize money on the PGA Tour. The field of participants is peppered with the absolute top players in the world and thus promises a tough fight for the title. From the top 50 in the world rankings, almost all players will compete in the Players Championship, so it is difficult to identify clear favourites. Nevertheless, we want to get an overview of the field’s strongest competitors.

Players Championship victory could affect world ranking

The tournament’s biggest favourites are, of course, the players in the top 10 of the official World Golf Ranking. All ten will be travelling to Florida in a bid to take the title from last year’s winner Justin Thomas. Thomas himself, currently number 7 in the world, will be there to try and defend the title. He won the 20-million-dollar tournament in 2021 and has already proven that he has the ability and the nerve to prevail against the strong field. A clear advantage.

Jon Rahm, currently number 1 in the world rankings, is under particular pressure. He is in danger of losing his leading position on the world ranking list after 34 weeks. No less than four players could pass him with a good result this week: Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay and Scottie Scheffler. They are all hot on the Spaniard’s heels and will leave no stone unturned to climb to the top of the world rankings.

Pressure on Jon Rahm

Viktor Hovland has been in particularly good form in recent weeks, winning once already this year, finishing second once and recording two more top-10 finishes. Scottie Scheffler is also a strong threat to Rahm: the American has already won two of five tournaments this year.

One of them was last weeks Arnold Palmer Invitational. But Patrick Cantlay, last season’s FedEx Cup winner, and Collin Morikawa, who has been lying in wait for Jon Rahm at number two in the world rankings for some time now, will also put Rahm under pressure. Morikawa currently leads several rankings on the PGA Tour and broke last years record with a 66 at the Players Championship.

Other players in the top 10 who will be competing at TPC Sawgrass are Rory McIlroy (winner of the 2019 Players Championship), Xander Schauffele, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith.

Sergio Garcia also has an impressive record. He has made the cut at TPC Sawgrass 17 times in a row, a feat many a golfer has despaired of. In addition to eight top-15 finishes, he has finished third once, second twice and won the tournament once. Not to be forgotten: his hole-in-one on the famous 17th hole in 2017.

Even underdogs can surprise on the PGA Tour

Not only the winners can sow panic. This year, for example, four winners celebrated a victory on the PGA Tour for the first time before the start of March. They are Tom Hoge, Scottie Scheffler, Luke List and Sepp Straka. They will all be competing again this week.

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PGA Tour

Tiger Woods with emotional speech at Hall of Fame induction

Tiger Woods received the World Golf Hall of Fame award from his daughter Sam. (Photo: Getty)
Tiger Woods received the World Golf Hall of Fame award from his daughter Sam. (Photo: Getty)

On Wednesday evening the time had finally come: After a slight delay – the ceremony was postponed due to the Corona pandemic – Tiger Woods was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His daughter Sam gave the presentation speech at the event at the PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach on the evening before the Players Championship and handed over the trophy to her father, who was honoured for his achievements and credits in golf. Woods himself looked back on his life in an emotional speech.

Laudation by daughter Sam

The introductory speech was given by Woods’ daughter Sam, who looked back on some moments in her life with Tiger Woods. “In 2007, my dad found himself in a position to make an 18-foot putt to force a U.S. Open playoff, which he missed by a foot,” Sam recounted in her speech. “He then had to rush to the airport, fly from Pittsburgh to Orlando, and drive to the Winnie Palmer Hospital. Within five minutes of walking into the hospital room, still wearing his red golf shirt, on June 18, I was born. He may have lost that day, but he won the greatest gift of all.”

The 14-year-old also shared anecdotes from Tiger Woods’ life as a father, recounting holidays, violin concerts and football matches. Above all, however, the work ethic “train hard, fight easy” had determined the life of the now 46-year-old. This was also the case a good year ago, when he had to train “harder than ever”. Sam spoke of the “scariest moments” of her life as not being clear about the superstar’s health. “You’re not only going to be conducted into the Hall of Fame, but you’re standing here on your own two feet,” Sam said, explaining why her father deserved it. “You’re a fighter,” she said, describing the milestones of the 15-time major winner, who became the first black golfer to win a major tournament and won his fifth Masters in 2019 after an incredible comeback.

Tiger Woods with emotional acceptance speech

“I inducted you into the Dads Hall of Fame a long time ago,” Sam finished her speech, “but today I am so proud to present my dad, Tiger Woods, into the World Golf Hall of Fame.” With these words, the daughter, dressed in red, presented the award to her father, who thanked her in an emotional speech. In doing so, the 82-time PGA Tour winner significantly overstayed his seven-minute speaking time, talking about his family, racism and his work ethic in a total of 17 minutes. Woods began his journey through time 40 years ago when golf took hold of him at the tender age of six. He told how he secretly sneaked onto the golf course with his father because he was still too young, how he collected golf balls and earned his first money putting, how he was not allowed into some clubhouses as a black youth and how he only had two questions: “Where is the first tee? What’s the course record?”

At the age of 14, his family was at a crossroads and made a “tough decision.” His parents took out a second mortgage so the 14-year-old Woods could continue playing golf. His mum stayed at home while Tiger travelled with his father Earl to play the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) Tour. It all wouldn’t have been possible “without the sacrifices from mom and dad,” said an emotionally moved Woods, who was finally able to pay off the mortgage with his first big sponsoring deals. He said his father, who died in 2006, instilled in him the work ethic. “If you don’t go out there and put in the work, if you don’t go out and put in the effort – one, you’re not going to get the results, and two, and more importantly, you don’t deserve it. You need to earn it,” Woods said. “So that defined my upbringing. That defined my career.”

In that career, Tiger Woods has broken countless records and taken golf to a new level. For this, he has now been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In addition, Tim Finchem, former commissioner of the PGA Tour, four-time major winner Susie Maxwell Berning and the late golf course developer Marion Hollins were also honoured on the evening for their achievements in golf.

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PGA Tour

Justin Thomas has a new apparel deal with Greyson Clothiers

Justin Thomas has a new apparel sponsor (Foto Getty)
Justin Thomas has a new apparel sponsor (Foto Getty)

Justin Thomas and Greyson Clothiers announced their future collaboration on Monday. The fashion brand is now the official outfitter of Justin Thomas. Just a year ago, Thomas had lost a large portion of his sponsors as a result of a homophobic outburst at the Tournament of Champions. Among them was his old supplier Ralph Lauren, who had very quickly withdrawn in the wake of these remarks. Since then Justin Thomas has appeared without an official outfit sponsor. But already during this time he played again and again in outfits of the brand Greyson.

Justin Thomas, the biggest name in Greyson’s player lineup

Then on Monday it became official: the new partnership was announced on all media channels. Thomas is now the biggest name in the company’s athlete lineup. Other sponsored players include Luke Donald and Harry Higgs. Both Greyson Clothiers and Justin Thomas are excited about the newfound partnership, “What’s interesting about the deal is that the head of Greyson, Charlie Schaefer, was the former design lead for Ralph Lauren. He was also at Ralph Lauren when Justin Thomas became a partner at the company. Now they are crossing paths at his own company. A true friendship has grown between Thomas and them, Greyson let it be heard on Instagram.

Justin Thomas had fallen out of favor with many of his sponsors 14 months ago. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the American had made homophobic slurs on the course. Ralph Lauren and other sponsors stopped their cooperation with the golfer shortly afterwards. Back then, he had apologized and expressed his “deepest” shame.

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PGA Tour

The Players Championship money shower: PGA Tour sets records

The current defending Players Championship champion: Justin Thomas (Photo: Getty)
The current defending Players Championship champion: Justin Thomas (Photo: Getty)

It is The Players Championship time! The world’s best golfers meet on Ponte Vedra Beach on Thursday, for a very exciting week. The “unofficial fifth” major tournament will take place in Florida, and this year the prize money is higher than ever before.

A total of $20 M will be paid out to the tournament participants. That is five million more than last year. Read this article to find out how the prize money has increased year after year, even though “The Players” is not one of the four major tournaments.

PGA Tour not only increases the Players Championship prize money

That golf is only played by the “rich and famous” is an outdated cliché. The sport has long since developed more and more into a popular sport and offers everyone the opportunity to try it out. Looking at professional sports, however, one quickly realizes that a lot of prestige and, above all, money are at stake.

A good example of this is the prize money on the PGA Tour, which has reached a new record high this year alone. Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, stated at the beginning of the season that prize money for 2022 will increase “from $367 million to $427 million.”

In particular, the upcoming Players Championship in Florida will benefit. While the total prize money was $15 million last year, it has now been increased by another five million. From March 10-13, golf’s elite will meet at TPC Sawgrass to determine the winner of the PGA Tour’s highest-paying golf event.

The Players Championship reward over the years

When the Players Championship was first held in 1974, the total prize money was $250,000. The winner, Jack Nicklaus, received $60,000 for his victory at the time. Over the years, the prize money continued to increase. In 1987, for example, the “pot” cracked the one million dollar mark for the first time.

Another milestone was certainly the win of the tournament by Hal Sutton in 2000, who was able to collect over $1M for winning the tournament. Justin Thomas enjoyed a victory bonus of 2.7 million dollars in 2021. That sum will be surpassed again this year.

The Players Championship’ 22 reward

The winner of this year’s Players Championship will receive 3.6 million dollars alone. This means that the bonus for the winner has increased by an incredible sixty-fold from the beginning.

However, that prize money in golf as a whole has increased many times over since the 1970s. And that is not the end of the line. The PGA Tour already announced that the prize money of its flagship tournament will increase to $25 million by 2025.

For instance, the following table shows the win bonuses of the top 5 for the upcoming Players Championship.

Ranking Prize Money
1. $3,600,000
2. $2,180,000
3. $1,380,000
4. $980,000
5. $820,000

Players Championship eclipses major tournaments

Although the tournament at TPC Sawgrass is not one of the majors, it has something over the four competitions. It is the highest paying event on the PGA Tour. Compared to the Masters, which takes place in about a month at Augusta National Golf Club. The Players Championship offers near twice as much.

According to media reports, the premiums for the upcoming Masters amount to the $11.5 million from last year, while the Players Championship boasts as little as $20 million. Last year’s Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama’s victory bonus also represents just about half of this year’s Players Championship winner, at around $2 million.

Major comparisons

The 2021 British Open was also listed at a total of $11.5 million, while the PGA Championship gave $12 million and the US Open $12.5 million. Concrete figures for prize money in 2022 are not yet available.

The thought is that the PGA Tour is pushing up the Players Championship prize money to motivate major tournaments, over which Tour has no control, to follow suit.

Golf fans have plenty to look forward to when the balls start flying again at Ponte Vedra Beach on Thursday and the winner is determined from the field of prominent participants. The golfers themselves are also likely to be full of anticipation, after all the winner can expect not only 600 FedEx Cup points and a lot of prestige, but also the tempting sum of 3.6 million euros