Cal Golf: A Tough Day to be a Golden Bear at The Players Championship
Day 3 of The Players Championship came to an end Saturday with only a fraction of the field at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida having completed their second round.
But when play was suspended due to darkness, things didn’t promising for any of four former Cal golfers hoping to make the cut. All four completed two rounds, and all were above the projected cut line of even par.
The only one with any real hope was Max Homa, who was part of a tie for 71st place with a one-over par score of 145. He was one stroke beyond the cut line, but presumably still could advance to the third round depending on how others fare on Sunday.
Thirty-eight players hadn’t even begun the second round when play was stopped Saturday, creating a tidal wave of uncertainty.
Nearly 5 inches of rain has fallen on the course since Monday — 2.1 inches alone on Friday, when play was halted after four hours for the second day in a row. That left both the course and the schedule a mess.
Weather is expected to be clear on Sunday, but the first golfers are scheduled to go off at 8:15 a.m. ET when the temperature is projected to be 37 degrees. The high on Sunday is forecast to be 54 degrees, with more of the wind gusts that tortured players on Saturday.
Still, officials believe they can finish the tournament by Monday.
Max Homa is just one stroke off the cut line.
Photo by Reinhold Matay, USA Today
No hole wreaked havoc on the participants Saturday like No. 17, where the flag resides on basically an island 146 yards from the tee. As the Golf Channel wrote, “the 17th tee is the most diabolical shot on the course, even in the most benign conditions.”
These were far from that.
At one stretch, four of the game’s premier golfers all suffered the same fate, hitting their tee shots into the water.
Scottie Scheffler, who had won two of his past three tournaments and was sniffing a No. 1 ranking, hit a 7 iron that bounced off the front shelf of the island and into the drink.
Xander Schauffele went next and his 8 iron splashed into the water.
Brooks Koepka followed and his 8 iron shot also was short and wound up sinking to the bottom.
Here’s how the Golf Channel described Morikawa’s ensuing effort at No. 17:
After watching the mess up ahead, Morikawa selected 7-iron and settled over his shot – but backed off. His caddie, J.J. Jakovac, brought over the bag, usually a sign that the caddie prefers a different club. Given a few reassurances, Morikawa settled into his address again – and then backed off, again, this time at Jakovac’s urging.
“You need that wind,” Jakovac said, waiting for another gust. “I like what we’re doing.”
But Morikawa – regarded as perhaps the game’s preeminent ball-striker – couldn’t master this challenge. His tee shot got hammered by the wind and hit the bulkhead short of the island green.
Rory McIlroy followed Morikawa and managed to land his ball on solid ground, but he was 54 feet and over a ridge from the hole. After three-putting, he had a bogey.
Defending champ Justin Thomas was last to go among the all-star lineup and his 7 iron settled 22 feet from the hole, allowing him to escape with a par.
Even so, 29 players hit into the water Saturday, and the average score for the second round, when play was halted, was 75.37.
Officials believe they can finish the tournament by Monday.
Tied for the top spot at six-under par are Tommy Fleetwood, who played just three holes of the second round, and Tom Hoge, idle Saturday after finishing his first round on Friday.
The clubhouse leaders after two rounds are Thomas and Bubba Watson, who both played bogey-free rounds and are at minus-3.
Here’s how the four Cal alums fared:
Collin Morikawa: The world’s second-ranked player played the final three holes of the first round on Saturday morning, starting with a birdie on No. 16 before making bogeys on 17 and 18. That left him with a first-round 73 and a tie for 89th place.
Morikawa began his second round on the back nine and shot one over before the turn to slip to plus-2 and 109th place. Any chance of a rousing comeback dimmed with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 3, and the 25-year-old finished the day with a 75 and sits in 104th place at four-over.
He is four strokes off the current projected cut line.
Max Homa: He began the day at two-under and tied for 32nd place but bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 on Saturday to finish the first round with an even-par 72. After two more bogeys — on Nos. 10 and 11 to open the second round — Homa dropped into a tie for 98th place.
He made seven consecutive pars then carded birdies on Nos. 2 and 4 to climb back into a tie for 57th place. But a bogey on No. 8 left him at 73 for the round and one over for the tournament and in a tie for 71st place.
James Hahn: The 40-year-old native of South Korea, who played at Cal back in 2003, finished his first round on Friday with a two-over 74.
His second round was going well enough before making bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, then double-bogeys on 17 and 18 — six over par on the final five holes — to wind cup at 79 for the day and 153 for two rounds. He is nine over par and tied for 132nd place.
Brandon Hagy: After a six-over 78 in the first round put the 30-year-old in 138th place, things actually got worst for Hagy on Saturday. Starting on the back nine, he had bogeys on 14, 17 and 18 and later a double-bogey on No. 5.
Hagy finished the day at four-over 76 and 10 over par for the tournament, which left him in 140th place (out of 141) and 16 strokes behind the leaders.
Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by David Yeazell, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo