PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Chad Ramey turned the one participant to achieve double digits below par on the Gamers Championship. The TPC Sawgrass, as normal, had the ultimate say.
Ramey put two tee pictures within the water on the island-green seventeenth gap Friday for a quintuple bogey that price him a 3-shot lead on a day of untamed swings and, finally, wild climate.
The second spherical was suspended with half the sphere unable to complete due to a storm system anticipated to dump a half-inch of rain on the Gamers Stadium Course.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa and Adam Svensson of Canada shared the lead at 8-under par, each doing what it takes to remain in entrance on this course. They did not make a bogey Friday — Bezuidenhout by way of 14 holes, Svensson by way of 11 — they usually have just one for the week.
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Ben Griffin was the clubhouse chief. The previous mortgage mortgage officer, who already had one shut name in Bermuda late final yr, was enjoying an beautiful spherical till taking double bogey on his last gap for a 1-under 71.
Griffin was at 6-under 138. Two-time main champion Collin Morikawa was 6 below by way of 11 holes, whereas Min Woo Lee was at 6 below with three holes left in his spherical.
“Sort of glad this rain delay and thunder got here in and let the putter relaxation just a little bit and hopefully come out sizzling tomorrow,” Morikawa stated.
Gamers had been to return at 7 a.m. Saturday to complete the second spherical. The third spherical is schedule for threesomes off each tees and may be capable to end earlier than sunset. That relies on the tempo of play, and a few of that relies on Sawgrass.
Jon Rahm missed all of this. The world’s No. 1 participant had a nasty abdomen bug and withdrew about half-hour earlier than his tee time. That places his rating in jeopardy, as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy can overtake him.
The benefit goes to Scheffler, who regarded shaky early and settled into his spherical. He birdied his final two holes of the day earlier than the suspension — Nos. 9 and 10 — to get to five below. He has a 15-foot eagle putt on the sixteenth gap when play resumes.
McIlroy, in the meantime, took a double bogey on the sixth gap and was at 6 over for the match. He had eight holes to attempt to shave off 4 strokes that doubtless will probably be wanted to make the reduce.
Rahm made each reduce final yr, and he final missed a reduce on the PGA Tour on the Fortinet Championship in September 2021, proper earlier than the Ryder Cup.
The course handed out some brutal punishments within the second spherical.
Begin with Max McGreevy, who was 20 pictures worse than his opening spherical. He shot 89, tying the incorrect sort of course document as the very best rating posted on the TPC Sawgrass. The opposite participant who shot 89 was Michael Campbell within the first spherical in 2003.
Viktor Hovland was 5 below for his spherical by way of 11 holes, even getting a break when his tee shot on the par-3 seventeenth bounced off the picket body of the island and onto the inexperienced. However then he bumped into bother over his last seven holes and needed to accept a 71.
Hovland was at 4-under 140 together with Will Gordon (67) and the resurgent Jason Day (70), a former world No. 1 who’s slowly working his manner again. Day started the yr at No. 112 on the earth, and he might take a giant step this week in assuring he stays within the prime 50 the subsequent two weeks to get into the Masters.
As for Jordan Spieth, he noticed his tee shot within the air on his last gap on the par-5 ninth and figured it was time to scrub out his locker. However as a substitute of going into water — it was to date proper the water usually is not in play — it hit a spectator within the leg and bounced again to the golf green. Spieth hit 3-wood to the collar of the inexperienced and chipped in for eagle.
That allowed him to salvage a 75, and he was secure to make the reduce.
“I obtained a particularly fortunate break on 9 or I would not be enjoying the weekend,” stated Spieth, who was at even-par 144. “Making an attempt to get that man’s data and see actually no matter he needs this weekend. As a result of the whole lot from right here on out is as a result of it hit him.”
Ramey opened with a 64 on Thursday and birdied two of his opening three holes to achieve 10 below, increasing his result in 3 strokes. After his quintuple bogey on the seventeenth, he needed to make a 30-foot putt to avoid wasting par on the 18th, after which dropped one other shot on the primary with a wild drive to the appropriate. He was 4 below with eight holes left in his spherical.
