That this Players Championship has been completely distorted by storms was demonstrated by the completion of round one some 54 hours and 16 minutes after it got under way. Clear skies arrived on Saturday afternoon but so, too, did gusting winds. With temperatures falling, this felt far more Saltcoats than Sawgrass.
Keegan Bradley explained the scale of the battle after a 71. “This is probably one of my best rounds of my life, honestly,” he said. “This is as tough as golf as you’re ever going to play. This is a course you want to play under no conditions because of how tough the shots are, and to play in this wind, to play like that, that was really, really a special round.
“I hit nine-iron from 95 yards, then a couple of holes later I hit nine-iron from 208 yards. Even tapping in tiny little putts was just brutal.”
Bradley’s score even included a two-stroke penalty after wind moved his ball on the 16th green. It took those who completed 18 holes on Saturday afternoon some five hours and 20 minutes to go about their business.
Kevin Kisner was among those not impressed: “It’s pure luck and a somewhat loss of integrity of the tournament in my opinion,” he said.
A large chunk of the field, including the 18-hole leader, Tommy Fleetwood, are still a long way from finishing their second rounds. This event will not conclude until Monday evening; Tuesday should at least now have been removed from the equation.
Justin Rose slammed his club into the turf after finding water at the 11th. The first four players of the day to step on to the 17th tee ended up wet. By close of play, more than 20 others had followed the same path. This was as attritional as a major championship.
Rory McIlroy, shortly before completion of a first round of 73, reached the green at the iconic 17th but proceeded to three putt. At the par four last, a McIlroy drive and three-iron proved insufficient to reach the putting surface. “Wow,” was the McIlroy reaction and no wonder.
A second round of 73 from McIlroy means he faces an anxious wait to discover if he will make the cut from an ominous position of two over. A McIlroy double bogey at the 7th, his 16th, looked costly. The Northern Irishman found water from the tee, just moments after chipping in for a birdie. Justin Thomas, who played alongside McIlroy, is in good shape to successfully defend the Players after adding a 69 to a 72.
Sepp Straka reached the 17th tee of his second round at five under par and one from the lead. Two balls were duly sent to swim with the alligators. Straka was lucky that shot five didn’t encounter the same fate. A seven from the Austrian removed him from the front page of the leaderboard.
As others wilted, Bubba Watson marched through the field. The two-time Masters champion, who is now 58th in the world, produced a terrific second round of 68 to move to minus three. Even more extraordinary than Watson’s score was his failure to record a single second round bogey. He ensured that from 13ft at the last.
Brooks Koepka, who has encountered problems at the 17th before, at least burst out laughing after watching his tee shot at the par three finish with a splash. “There’s nothing you can do, it’s gust dependent,” Koepka said. “I think today everybody knew today was going to be extremely tough. You play the wrong shot with the wrong gust and you make some numbers.”
As if the elements didn’t throw up enough problems, England’s Matt Wallace had to deal with an unruly spectator as he walked from the 9th green. Wallace, who will miss the cut at eight over, said he was branded an “arsehole” by a member of the public. “He was drunk, very drunk,” Wallace said. “I went back to him and asked ‘Sorry?’ He was absolutely hammered so I just told his mates to look after him.” Others may not have been quite so polite.
