Golf-Rain at The Players Championship forces likely Monday finish

[March 12, 2022] (Reuters) - The PGA Tour's flagship event will not finish as scheduled on Sunday given another day of rain that waterlogged the course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Friday and left organisers of The Players Championship targeting a Monday evening finish.

Play at TPC Sawgrass was suspended for the day on Friday and will not resume any earlier than 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT) Saturday with 47 golfers still left to complete their first round.

"The golf course has just reached a point of saturation, and unfortunately the weather conditions are not providing us any relief," PGA Tour Chief Referee Gary Young told reporters.

The Players Championship, where golfers are competing for a $3.6 million first prize from a purse of $20 million, has had seven Monday finishes, the most recent coming in 2005. It has never concluded on a Tuesday.

Play was suspended Friday at 11:15 a.m. and ultimately called for the day at 3:00 p.m. with 96 players having completed their first round.

The tournament's start on Thursday was delayed one hour due to overnight rain and thunderstorms and play was suspended later that day for over four hours due to dangerous weather. Play did resume for about three hours before darkness halted action.

Dustin Johnson shields himself from the rain during the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Young remained confident they will be able to wrap up play by 6:30 p.m. on Monday, which he said would leave enough time for a three-hole aggregate playoff.

"We are very confident at this point -- we're into a Monday finish. We know that," said Young.

"If our calculations on everything hold together and we're able to start tomorrow, we certainly expect to be finished with the championship on Monday."

Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge carded matching six-under-par 66s to share the first-round lead while Brice Garnett was level with them with five holes left to play in his opening round.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.