Players Championship Resumes After Weather Delay: PGA Tour Aims to Crown a Champion Today
he Players Championship is back in action after a suspense-filled pause of over three hours, as lightning and thunderstorms forced a halt to Sunday’s final round at TPC Sawgrass. The PGA Tour suspended its flagship event at 1:15 p.m. EDT, but at 4:25 p.m., officials gave the green light: practice facilities reopened, and play resumed at 5:15 p.m., with players racing against the clock to finish before nightfall.
Rory McIlroy held the lead when the horn sounded, sitting at 12-under through 11 holes. Hot on his heels were J.J. Spaun at 11-under through 10, Tom Hoge at 10-under through 17, Akshay Bhatia and local standout Danny Walker—both 10-under through 12—and former Northeast Florida resident Bud Cauley at 9-under through 10. Only 21 of the field’s golfers completed their rounds before the weather intervened.
The Tour had preemptively shifted tee times to 8 a.m., sending players out in threesomes to dodge the incoming storms, part of a volatile system battering Georgia and South Carolina. Rain started sporadically by late morning, but lightning after 1 p.m. triggered the immediate stoppage. Spectators were urged to seek shelter or leave, with concessions and grandstands shuttered for safety. A tornado watch, issued earlier by the National Weather Service, lingered until 3 p.m., heightening the tension.
With play underway again, sunset at 7:35 p.m. looms large. The final group—Spaun, Cauley, and Lucas Glover—teed off at 10:01 a.m. and had played 10 holes in just over three hours, leaving eight to go. A tight finish could push the tournament into a playoff, and darkness might force a Monday conclusion. Should that happen, tickets from Sunday or weekly badges will remain valid, though parking details are still TBD—mirroring 2022’s Monday finish when Sunday parking carried over. Monday’s forecast promises clear skies, cooler temps at 66°F, and gusty winds up to 30 mph, but no rain.
This wouldn’t be uncharted territory for The Players: eight prior tournaments—1974, 1976, 1981, 1983, 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2022—spilled into Monday, with the last five on the Stadium Course. For now, the PGA Tour is banking on squeezing the drama into Sunday’s fading light, keeping fans on edge as McIlroy and company vie for the $4.5 million prize