Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson Outduel the Elements at The Players Championship

Both players finish their second round at a chilly, windy TPC Sawgrass with the Saturday clubhouse lead at 3-under par.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With the temperature dropping, the wind howling and a long walk on a saturated course slogging to its conclusion, Bubba Watson could see the warmth of the clubhouse but could not quite feel its comfort. Not yet.

He still had the two most difficult holes on the TPC Sawgrass Stadium course to traverse, ones that caused fits throughout the day for others. An extremely good round was in his sights, but those two holes, the 17th and 18th, loomed.

And as Watson played the par-5 16th, he was thinking a birdie there was really important.

“I was trying to get to 4 under (for the tournament) so I could make double-bogey, double-bogey … so I could still be at even,’’ Watson said. “I told my caddie Gabe (Sauer), 'Man, I need a birdie so I could go double bogey, double bogey.'’’

Watson was kidding. We think. He failed to birdie the 16th but did manage pars at the par-3 17th and the par-4 18th to finish a bogey-free 68 on a chilly, windy Saturday and take the clubhouse lead along with Justin Thomas at 3-under 141 after completing two rounds of the Players Championship. Those two finishing holes combined to yield just three birdies in the abbreviated second round.

Watson, a two-time Masters champion, was one of only 48 players who have finished 36 holes at the weather-plagued tournament. He and Thomas were the only ones to not make a bogey on Saturday, a brutal day for scoring.

“That back nine was scary,’’ said Jim “Bones’’ Mackay, Thomas’ caddie. “You had to really hit the ball solid because it was extremely difficult.’’

Thomas, the Players defending champion, put on an impressive display, hitting 14 of 18 greens and making three birdies to shoot 69. He needed just 29 putts on a day that was every bit as daunting through the air as on the greens.

The PGA Tour’s flagship tournament has been turned upside down by a wild weather system that delayed play during Thursday's opening round for several hours, and caused a suspension on Friday that meant just a few hours of golf got completed.

After overnight rains and another morning storm, the resumption of play did not begin until noon on Saturday, more than 24 hours after it stopped.

There is still a long way to go in the second round, with 94 players (two have withdrawn) still to complete the second round before a 36-hole cut can be made to the low 65 and ties. The second round is scheduled to resume at 8:15 a.m. Sunday, with the players to be re-paired for the third round.

PGA Tour officials hope as many players as possible get through the third round Sunday evening. Play will resume Monday morning and the tournament should declare a winner later that day.

Obviously, the entire situation has been stressful for the players.

“It was very weird, obviously hard to get into a rhythm,’’ said Thomas, who played just two holes of his first round late Thursday and didn’t complete the first round until early afternoon Saturday.

“Had a lot of different emotions. First off, thinking it looks good like we were on the right side of the draw and being pretty excited about that, and then realizing that was very much not and then just having to get over that as quick as I could because it’s obviously frustrating, especially when I feel like I’m playing well, kind of getting just thrown into something like that.’’

Thomas jokingly blamed Tiger Woods. Thomas apparently requested a late tee time on Thursday so he could attend Woods’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Wednesday night. “If I would have just maybe stuck to my guns and played early, I would have been better,’’ he said.

“I’m thrilled with how I played and how I competed today. It was a very, very tough day, and I just stayed very patient and executed well.’’

Watson and Thomas are tied for 15th on the leaderboard at 141, 3-under par. They are three shots behind leaders Tommy Fleetwood, who has completed three holes of the second round, and Tom Hoge, who has yet to tee off. But those players shot 66 in the opening round.

Joaquin Niemann, Keith Mitchell and Anirban Lahiri – none of whom has started their second round – are are tied for third, a shot back at 5 under.

While the leaders mostly avoided the carnage inflicted by the TPC Sawgrass Stadium course on Saturday, they face their own issues Sunday morning. Cold weather. The temperature is expected to dip into the 30s overnight and rise to only 41 degrees when play resumes.

“Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow,’’ Watson said. “I don’t know what time they start and what time they finish but being able to sleep in for the second day in a row is nice.’’