PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The final round of The Players Championship resumed at 5:15 p.m. EDT Sunday.
Play was suspended four hours earlier, at 1:15 p.m., as a line of thunderstorms approached the area.
PGA Tour officials were prepared for the possibility of a delay, with tee times moved up roughly three hours and players sent off in threesomes off split tees amid winds that gusted up to 30 mph.
Seventy-two holes were not enough to determine The Players champion
Rory McIlroy, who began the final round four shots back, has taken a one-shot lead as he plays his 12th hole. Sitting at 12 under par, McIlroy posted a birdie-eagle start and is 4 under for the day, allowing him to leapfrog 54-hole leader J.J. Spaun.
Spaun, who is 1 over in his final round, will have a 60-yard bunker shot for his third shot on the par-5 11th.
Two shots behind are Akshay Bhatia (13th hole), Danny Walker (13th hole) and Tom Hoge, who has a 15-footer on his final hole of the day to post 11 under in the clubhouse. Hoge, who is 6 under through 17 holes, has the best round of the day underway.
Sunset is at 7:34 p.m., so there’s a narrow window for play to conclude on Sunday.
English