The final round of the 2025 Players Championship was suspended at 1:15 p.m. because of dangerous weather near the area of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
At the time of the suspension, Rory McIlroy had a one-shot lead over 54-hole leader J.J. Spaun and has just birdied the par5 11th hole on a 14-foot putt to get his score to 12-under. McIlroy, who eagled No. 2 on a 10-foot putt, is 4-under for the day and Spaun is 1-over through 10 holes.
Tom Hoge (through 17 holes), Akshay Bhatia (12) and Danny Walker of Jacksonville (12) were tied for third at 10-under. Hoge has a 16-foot birdie putt facing him when the field returns. Bud Cauley is 2-over through 10 holes and is along in sixth.
Play could resume later Sunday
The weather is part of a system that battered areas of the South on Saturday with tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
If the system clears, the PGA Tour will return and play as much golf as daylight permits before sunset at 7:35 p.m. If part of the final round needs to be played on Monday, it will be the first time since the 2022 Players.
Among the players who finished their rounds were Collin Morikawa (69), Aaron Rai (69), Russell Henley (69), Keegan Bradley (70) and Joe Highsmith (70).
Bradley made the first hole-in-one of the tournament, at the par-3 13th hole. It played 153 yards in the final round and was the 40th ace in tournament history.
Players Championship fans watch the group of Rory McIlroy, Corey Conners and Alex Smalley walk to the fifth green of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Tornado warning was issued Sunday morning
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch at 8:21 a.m. for Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia through 3 p.m. Sunday as “a broken line of severe storms with damaging potential of 50-70 mph and isolated tornadoes possible as it moves across the region from west to east through the afternoon hours and exits into the Atlantic early this evening.”
The Players moved up its final round tee times to 8 a.m. Sunday, with final tee times at 10:01 a.m. Groups went out in threesomes rather than pairs.
The NWS reported by mid evening, showers and storms are expected to be offshore and/or south of the forecast area. Clearing skies are expected tonight and cooler temperatures will filter into the area with temps falling into the upper 40s and lower 50s with northwest winds slowly diminishing.
Tim Walters also contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship final round suspended because of dangerous weather
