Mother Nature shook up the schedule at the 2022 Players Championship, dumping rain on the PGA Tour’s parade leading up to and during Thursday’s opening round.
According to the Tour, 1.3 inches of rain fell overnight at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, which put preferred lies into play and moved tee times back an hour due to “overnight rain and area thunderstorms.”
Another .45 inches fell during a 4 hour, 14 minute suspension of play due to more dangerous weather in the area. Play was then suspended due to darkness at 6:36 p.m. ET with the majority of the field yet to finish.
So what does that mean for Friday and the rest of the weekend? Here’s what you need to know.
When does play resume?
The first round is scheduled to resume at 7:15 a.m. ET on Friday, with the first wave of second-round tee times scheduled to start sometime between 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET.
Sixty-nine of the 72 players in the morning wave finished their first round. The group of Hank Lebioda, Henrik Norlander and Taylor Pendrith was the lone trio to not finish. On the flip side, 60 of 72 players in the afternoon wave began their first round.
What does the weather look like?
On the positive side, Thursday night should be pretty clear. On the negative side, Friday doesn’t look great.
Sourcing PGA Tour Meteorologist Wayne Stettner, Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis said they’re expecting “anywhere from three quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter of rain on Friday,” with thunderstorms and potentially damaging winds expected Saturday (plus an additional half-inch to an inch of rain).
At the time of this post, thunderstorms are in the forecast from 3 a.m-9 p.m. Friday.
Who’s playing well?
A clean-shaven Tommy Fleetwood shares the lead with Tom Hoge after each fired 6-under 66s on Thursday. Kramer Hickok, Joaquin Niemann, Keith Mitchell and Anirban Lahiri are all T-3 at 5 under. Harold Varner III shot a 69 despite a triple-bogey 6 on the famed par-3 17th hole. He’s in a group that’s T-11 after the first day.
How to watch
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.
Friday, March 4
TV
Golf Channel: 12-6 p.m.
Radio
SiriusXM: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
STREAM
ESPN+: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m.
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