Players Championship 2022 Leaderboard: Live Updates, Top Storylines for Saturday
The 2022 Players Championship is underway, well, sort of. Adverse weather conditions have delayed the event multiple times, leaving some golfers still looking to finish Round 1 on Saturday.
The tournament is already set to have a late start on Friday, as well. According to PGA Tour Communications, Round 1 won't resume until noon ET at the earliest. There's a chance that the Players Championship now runs into Tuesday.
The tournament will go on, though, and many of the world's top golfers are still competing for one of the biggest non-majors on the PGA tour. In terms of prize money, it's the biggest event on the tour. The winner will claim $3.6 million of a $20 million prize pool.
That's plenty of reason to battle the elements this weekend, and while the competition may be running late, it will be fierce. Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Hoge and Brice Garnett were tied atop the leaderboard at -6 when play was stopped, but there's a lot of golf still to be played. fans who want to keep track of the latest scores and standings can follow PGATour.com's live leaderboard.
Let's take a look at the biggest storylines heading into Saturday.
Where: TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
When: Thursday, March 10-Sunday, March 13
Remaining TV Schedule
Saturday, March 12: 12-6 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, ESPN+
Sunday, March 13: 1-6 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock
Monday, March 14: 1-6 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock
Live Leaderboard
Without a doubt, the weather at TPC Sawgrass has been the storyline of the weekend thus far. Play was delayed before the event even started on Thursday, and it was delayed again and then halted on Friday. With a severe weather system expected early Saturday, play will be late once again on Saturday.
“Our desire is to not have anyone on the property at that time," Chief Referee Gary Young said, per PGATOUR.com. "We are into a Monday finish. We know that."
47 golfers still have to finish their first rounds, but the hope is that Rounds 1 and 2 can be completed on Saturday. Further weather delays, however, could potentially push the tournament into Tuesday.
Before the tournament began, PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner (h/t Ben Everill of PGATOUR.com) reported that the severe weather is expected to move out Saturday afternoon with dry conditions on Sunday.
Hopefully, we've seen the last of the weather delays. According to the Players Championship official Twitter account, the first wave of second-round tee times will run from 12-2:01 p.m. ET with a second wave from 5-7:01 p.m. ET.
Perhaps the biggest non-weather-related storyline thus far has been the withdrawal of reigning Masters-winner Hideki Matsuyama. The 30-year-old was viewed as one of the early tournament favorites but pulled out of the event before it even began on Thursday.
"Reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama just withdrew from The Players Championship due to a back issue," Josh Kendall of The Athletic tweeted.
Matsuyama has won two PGA events this season (ZOZO Championship, Sony Open in Hawaii).
A star-studded field still remains, and three golfers are currently atop the leaderboard at six-under—Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Hoge and Brice Garnett. They are followed closely, though, by a group of five currently sitting at -5.
Dustin Johnson and Scottie Scheffler are among a large group of golfers currently sitting at -4.
This suggests that, despite the stormy weather, TPC Sawgrass will once again play host to a tournament of low rounds tight races. Don't expect anyone to pull away early this weekend.
