By Mike Bonts
PONTE VEDRA (Florida Sports Wire) – Due to area thunderstorms, second-round play was suspended for the day at The Players Championship at 4:27 p.m. Friday afternoon. Second round play resumed Saturday morning.
Adam Svensson holds a two-shot lead over PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler at tournament’s halfway mark. Scheffler sits inside the top 10 after 36 holes for the fifth time in six starts in 2023.
Svensson is making his event debut, qualifying for the tournament by winning his first PGA Tour title earlier this season at The RSM Classic.
That event is held at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Ga. This is the first 36-hole lead of Svensson’s career. He is 9 under par, closing his second-round 67 with a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole.
“I feel like it’s coming around,” Svensson said. “I’ve been putting pretty well the last couple weeks, and this is my first time in my career I’ve felt confident with the putter, and it’s been awesome.
Three players in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking are T9 or better, Scheffler (No. 2/2nd), Collin Morikawa (No. 10/T3), and Viktor Hovland (No. 11/T9).
Second-Round Leaderboard
Adam Svensson 68-67—135 (-9)
Scottie Scheffler 68-69—137 (-7)
Ben Griffin 67-71—138 (-6)
Min Woo Lee 68-70—138 (-6)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 68-70—138 (-6)
Collin Morikawa 65-73—138 (-6)
NOTABLES
Jerry Kelly, 56, becomes the oldest player to make the cut at The Players Championship. 2019 champion Rcory McIlroy misses the cut for the sixth time in 13 career tournament starts.
SECOND ROUND NOTES
- PGA TOUR rookie Ben Griffin (T3/-6) records a second-round 71 and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (3.387); making his 14th start of the season with his best finish a T3 at the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship
- Collin Morikawa (T3/-6) posts a 1-over 73 in round two in search of his first victory of the season after three top-10s in his last five starts: 2nd/Sentry Tournament of Champions, 3rd/Farmers Insurance Open, T6/The Genesis Invitational
- One of two co-leaders at time of suspension, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (T3/-6) played his final four holes of the second round in 2-over for a 70; making his second start at The Players Championship (T41/2021) after recording a 65 in the first round in 2020 (stood T2 when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19)
- Two-time DP World Tour winner Min Woo Lee (T3/-6) cards a second-round 70 in search of his first PGA Tour title; qualified for his first Players at No. 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking following The Honda Classic.
- First-round leader Chad Ramey (T7/-5) records a 3-over 75, which included a quadruple-bogey 7 at the par-3 17th hole.
- Five players in the top 10 are making their event debut: Adam Svensson (1st), Ben Griffin (T3), Min Woo Lee (T3), Chad Ramey (T7), Will Gordon (T9).
