PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With the largest purse of the PGA Tour season – a cool $25 million – the Players Championship isn’t the week to be trunk-slamming on Friday. Yet the Pete Dye design at TPC Sawgrass exposes any weaknesses in one’s game and it sent several of the best players in golf packing.
That included the likes of Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Jordan Spieth.
On the flip side, Aaron Rai, who lives locally, came up clutch, stuffing his approach at 18 inside 2 feet and brushed in the birdie putt to make the cut on the number. Min Woo Lee canned a 60 foot, 1 inch putt at 17, the second-longest putt made on the hole since 2003, which gave him a cushion to make bogey at 18 and also finish on the cutline. In all, the field needed to shoot 1-under 143 or better to earn a spot into the weekend at the Tour’s flagship event.
Just two golfers didn’t finish their second rounds before darkness set in Friday night.