American Marconi Wireless News - Weather woe hits Players, delayed finish on cards

After decimating play on Thursday, heavy rain once again forced a suspension on Friday at TPC Sawgrass, with players hauled off the course at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida due to "unplayable conditions".

Nearly 50 players in the field had yet to complete their first round when play was halted at 11.15am local time (1615 GMT).

PGA Tour officials said a further update about play would be given at 3pm local time.

PGA Tour chief referee Gary Young said the chances of finishing the tournament on schedule on Sunday were dwindling rapidly.

Around 2.5 inches of rain have doused the course in the past 24 hours, with storms also bringing the threat of lightning, Young said.

Asked if a Sunday finish was increasingly unrealistic, Young told reporters: "We've been crunching some numbers, and yes, we are coming close to that point now."

"We were hoping to get four hours of golf in today, which we did accomplish, but at some point we were hoping to get back out," he said.

"We need to try to get as much play as we can by the end of the day."

Young said if no further play was possible on Friday, a Monday finish was all but inevitable.

"At this point, we're just battling, trying to make up for lost time," he said.

"We also know that the conditions we're going to be facing tomorrow with the winds that are predicted, the pace of play is going to be slower as well.

"So we're trying to factor all of this in in our projections.

"We may be in a situation where, if we don't get back out there today, we're assured of a Monday finish."

Young added that with forecast wind on Saturday expected to slow the pace of play, even a Tuesday finish was a possibility.

"The potential is there," he said. "The potential, but let's hope not. I think everything that we're looking at, we feel very confident that we can finish this tournament by Monday."

England's Tommy Fleetwood and American Tom Hoge remain the early leaders in the clubhouse.

Fleetwood and Hoge carded six-under-par 66s on Thursday.

A.Jones--AMWN