PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Chad Ramey turned the one participant to succeed in double digits underneath par at The Gamers Championship. The TPC Sawgrass, as typical, had the ultimate say.
Ramey put two tee photographs within the water on the island-green seventeenth gap Friday for a quintuple-bogey that value him a three-shot lead on a day of untamed swings and, ultimately, wild climate.
The second spherical was suspended with half the sector unable to complete the spherical 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 Surrey, B.C., shared the lead at 8-under par, each doing what it takes to remain in entrance on this course. They didn’t make a bogey Friday — Bezuidenhout by 14 holes, Svensson by 11 holes — they usually have just one for the week.
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 ultimate gap for a 1-under 71.
Griffin was at at 6-under 138. Two-time main champion Collin Morikawa was 6 underneath by 11 holes, whereas Min Woo Lee was at 6-under with three holes left in his spherical.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., who performed 13 holes on Friday, is tied for sixth at 5-under. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for eighth at 4-under. He managed to get eight holes in. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., who performed 12 holes Friday, is tied for 68th at 2-over.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford and Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton at tied for 91st at 4-over. Taylor performed 12 holes, whereas Mackenzie managed to get in 9.
“Kind of glad this rain delay and thunder came in and let the putter rest a little bit and hopefully come out hot tomorrow,” Morikawa mentioned.
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 will 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 appeared 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 underneath. 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 event. He had eight holes to attempt to shave off 4 strokes that doubtless shall be wanted to make the minimize.
Rahm made each minimize final yr, and he final missed a minimize 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 photographs worse than his opening spherical. He shot 89, tying the unsuitable type of course file as the best ever posted on the TPC Sawgrass. The opposite participant who shot 89 was Michael Campbell within the first spherical in 2003.
Viktor Hovland was 5 underneath for his spherical by 11 holes, even getting a break when his tee shot on the par-3 seventeenth bounced off the wood body of the island and onto the inexperienced. However then he bumped into bother over his ultimate 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 method again. Day started the yr at No. 112 on the earth, and he might take an enormous step this week in assuring he stays within the high 50 the following two weeks to get into the Masters.
As for Jordan Spieth, he noticed his tee shot within the air on his ultimate 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 up to now proper the water sometimes isn’t in play — it hit a spectator within the leg and bounced again to the 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 minimize.
“I got an extremely lucky break on 9 or I wouldn’t be playing the weekend,” mentioned Spieth, who was at even-par 144. “Trying to get that guy’s information and see literally whatever he wants this weekend. Because everything from here on out is because it hit him.”
Ramey opened with a 64 on Thursday and birdied two of his opening three holes to succeed in 10 underneath, increasing his result in three. After his quintuple-bogey on the seventeenth, he needed to make a 30-foot putt to avoid wasting par on the 18th, and the dropped one other shot on the primary with a wild drive to the best. He was 4 underneath with eight holes left in his spherical.
