They call it Moving Day, the third round of tournaments like this, and the 30mph winds at TPC Sawgrass ensured not much – and not many players – stood still on Saturday.
But the chaos of this penultimate day of the Players Championship was perhaps best encapsulated by a moment when the ball didn’t budge at all.
Well, it moved all of two inches, according to the PGA Tour tracker. Poor Min Woo Lee. The overnight leader was chipping from the edge of a bunker on nine, only for his wedge to brush through the rough and miss the ball entirely.
He wasn’t alone in falling victim to the conditions and carnage on Saturday. After a serene couple of days for the best players in the world, this was more like it.
This was glorious, a day when very few evaded embarrassment at The Players. Here’s a brief run-through the highlights…
Jordan Spieth launched his club in anger. So did Scottie Scheffler, who thinned a chip into the water and then hit someone in the galleries. Lee and Akshay Bhatia were forced to play one shot from the driving range.
Rory McIlroy was among the players to toil in brutal conditions during the third round
Min Woo Lee, the overnight leader, had a chaotic round that included five bogeys
Jordan Spieth launched his club in frustration on a tough third day at TPC Sawgrass
Rory McIlroy found the water but struggled to hit a fairway. At one point, Xander Schauffele was forced to hit left-handed. Will Zalatoris shot a quadruple bogey en route to dropping nine shots in the final five holes.
He was playing alongside Lucas Glover, who made a double bogey on 15 and then chipped in for eagle on 16 and then double bogeyed 17.
Billy Horschel, who shot a 77, summed it up rather nicely in a mid-round interview: ‘I have no God-honest control of my golf swing and I don’t know where the golf ball is going right now. So I’m trying to get into the house as fast as I can.’
Some players could blame the conditions. Others simply succumbed to the devil between their ears. No one was enveloped in chaos like the final pairing of Lee and Bhatia.
They started the day as overnight leaders on eleven-under-par. Over the next 18 holes, they shot a combined five birdies and 10 bogeys and two double bogeys. At the end of it all, Bhatia was three-over-par for the day. Lee was +6.
They spent more than 20 minutes on the fifth hole alone. Both were forced to take a drop on the driving range after sending their drives into the trees.
They looked for their balls and traipsed around in the bushes before heading nearly 70 yards away from the hole to give themselves a shot at the green.
Both made double bogey; Bhatia could have started with back-to-back birdies but he missed a putt from 2ft on the second. That proved a rather crucial error. From there, his scorecard over the front nine read: bogey, bogey, double bogey, par, birdie, birdie, bogey.
Lee and Akshay Bhatia were forced to hit off the driving range after wayward drives
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler also fell victim to the conditions during the third round on Saturday
Lee had to wait until the 18th for his first birdie. He shot 78 and plummeted down the leaderboard. Bhatia is clinging on – he heads into Sunday four shots off the lead.
Of the 71 players who made the cut, only 19 went under par on Saturday. Five shot 80 or worse.
At the top of the leaderboard now? JJ Spaun – the world No 57 – who leads on 12-under-par. Bud Cauley – ranked 251st in the world – is one adrift after a 66.
Scheffler is seven shots back after a third-round 72, while McIlroy lost ground with a 73. He is four off the lead in a tie for fifth.
On Friday, the Northern Irishman said he was ‘excited for the challenge’ of these testing conditions. On Saturday, he hit five fairways off the tee.
Few players appeared to be having much fun, in farness. But more bad weather and more carnage awaits on Sunday. Strap in.
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Winds wreak havoc at The Players as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler toil on brutal third day at TPC Sawgrass
