Sawgrass organisers keep options open

In keeping with an event which in time wants to be considered one of golf’s majors, the Players Championship has never in its 31-year history been decided over anything less than four rounds.

And that is still the intention at Sawgrass in Florida this time even though only 44 minutes’ play was possible yesterday because of rain.

Weather permitting – and that could be a big ask in view of the unfavourable forecast – the second round was resuming at 7am today and hopefully would be completed before nightfall.

That would enable officials to decide whether to go for 36 holes tomorrow, possibly with only the leading 60 and ties surviving the halfway cut rather than the usual 70, or schedule a Monday finish.

With next week’s tournament – the final warm-up for the Masters, of course - only an hour’s flight away in Atlanta, play could even go on until Tuesday if necessary.

“We are keeping all our options open,” said tournament director Mark Russell, who is getting used to making such decisions this season.

The Players, at €6.5m the richest in the sport, is the seventh event of the 13 so far on the 2005 US Tour to suffer a delay.

None of those at the very top of the leaderboard got to hit a shot yesterday, but Ernie Els hit four – and one of them struck playing partner Lee Janzen.

Els, one under par after his opening 71 and seven adrift of American Steve Jones, had blocked a wild drive off the opening tee 80 yards right of where he was aiming.

The ball finished on pine needles and because a bush was in the way the South African could not go for the green and decided to play back onto the fairway.

Janzen, however, was there preparing for his next shot and did not see the ball coming.

“I thought it was going to hit him on the head,” said Els’ caddie Ricci Roberts. “I shouted ‘Fore’, but there wasn’t time for him to get out of the way. Thankfully, though, the ball hit the ground just in front of him and caught him on the leg.”

Janzen was okay to continue and hit his approach to the edge of the green.

But Els’ 118-yard pitch flew horribly right again and when the siren to suspend play sounded he had already chipped to 12 feet and needed to hole that to avoid a double bogey six.

That bogey attempt will be his first stroke today – possibly.

Another scenario is that if there are more downpours the conditions will deem it necessary to introduce placing on the fairways and that would mean starting the second round all over again.

David Howell would not be so happy about that. He had just birdied the long 11th, his second, to get back to one over, with level par the likely cut-off mark.

Top European overnight remained Lee Westwood, one behind 46-year-old Jones along with Fred Funk and Zach Johnson.

Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia are two back, Padraig Harrington and world number one Vijay Singh three behind at five under and both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson two under.