Weather Delay: The Players Championship Suspended Due to Deadly Storms

Earlier Sunday morning the final round of the Players Championship started a bit differently than more PGA Tour events with players going off in threesomes on both No. 1 and No. 10 tees.

Why? Forecasted inclement weather threatened the tournament as a cold front rolled into the Northeast Florida area on Sunday afternoon. While the weather was expected to his around 2 p.m. EST, the tournament entered a delay at 1:15 local time due to inclement weather.

“We’ve been reviewing this weather for three or four days and unfortunately it’s held its pattern and it looks like this line of storms are going to be quite intense,” Stephen Cox, vice president of rules and tournament administration, said in a statement.

Final-round play was suspended at 1:15 p.m. ET due to inclement weather in the area.

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 16, 2025

The storm has wreaked havoc across much of the central and southeast U.S., producing heavy rains, flash flooding, severe tornadoes and sparking wildfires in recent days. 36 people have been killed in the storms across Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, according to ABC News. The storms left hundreds of thousands without power from Michigan to Georgia.

“Obviously our preferred desire is to have one tee in two(somes) and this is the awkward balance that we face,” Cox said. “If we do roll the dice, as they say, and try and play off one tee in two(somes) we could easily find ourselves in a Monday finish.”

Instead, the committee settled on threesomes going off of No. 1 and No. 10 tees. “This strategy gives ourselves the best possible chance of completing the championship on Sunday,” Cox said.

Despite taking precautions and getting everyone onto the course early, the weather is still playing a major impact on Sunday afternoon.

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source https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/the-players-championship-weather-delay-start-time-storms