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A14 sports
Saturday 12 March 2022
Players Championship gets 4 hours of play and Monday finish

By DOUG FERGUSON twice fooled him and led to
AP Golf Writer three-putt bogeys — a 40-
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. foot putt he left well short
(AP) — The Players Cham- on the 10th, a downhill putt
pionship delivered only four from 30 feet that ran 6 feet
hours of golf Friday before by on the 13th.
rain saturated the TPC Saw- Berger figured them out. He
grass, assuring the PGA holed a 40-foot birdie putt
Tour’s premier event will not from the fringe on No. 12
end until Monday. and, just as important, hit
So much for Saturday be- a beautiful lag putt from
ing “moving day.” 50 feet on the 13th. He
Based on the forecast of followed with birdie putts
overnight rain and raging from 18 feet and 15 feet to
wind, the tour said there reach 5 under.
was no chance of even Johnson was at 4 under
making the cut until Sun- when he walked off the
day. green at the par-5 16th with
Play was stopped at 11:15 the rain falling harder than
a.m. The conditions and it had all morning. Johnson
the forecast were so bad is among the fastest play-
the first round was not ers in golf (until he gets to
scheduled to resume until the green), but not on this
11 a.m. Saturday, and that Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, tries to stay dry on ninth green during the first round of play in The occasion. He took his time
was described as a best- Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 11, 2022, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. as he stared at the island
Associated Press
case scenario. green of the par-3 17th in
“The golf course has just ers Championship began Poulter might not hit anoth- sion of the opening round a driving rain. He fiddled
reached a point of satu- in 1974, and the first since er shot until Sunday morn- might have to wait. He was with his glove. He slowly
ration, and unfortunately 2005. All the Monday finish- ing. just short of the par-5 11th reached into his bag for a
the weather conditions are es have occurred in March. Only 96 players from the green when he called for rain jacket.
not providing us any relief,” The Players was held in May 144-man field have finished an official because of wa- A horn to stop play was
said Gary Young, the chief for 12 years until returning 18 holes. ter in the area where he coming, just not fast
referee of The Players. to its earlier date in 2019. Tommy Fleetwood and Tom wanted to land his pitch. enough. He finally hit
Puddles formed on the put- But it’s never been as dis- Hoge finished on Thursday Out came the squeegees, wedge near the hole and
ting surfaces when play jointed as this. and each posted a 6-un- and a delay waiting for was happy it spun back
was stopped, and the rain The opening round was de- der 66. At best, they won’t them to move away the only 20 feet.
kept coming. Young said layed an hour at the start, start the second round until water. Jordan Spieth’s sec- And then play was stopped
the Stadium Course — for- and then was suspended late Saturday afternoon. ond shot into the 12th was before he putted. Stand-
merly a swamp before the for 4 hours, 15 minutes. Brice Garnett holed out for in the middle of a puddle, ing in a tunnel beneath the
late architect Pete Dye Thursday ended with Ian eagle from the fourth fair- and he stood over his mark bleachers, Johnson talked
worked his magic — had Poulter running from tee-to- way and was at 6 under as the squeegee crew about his timing with hav-
received some 3 inches of green on the par-3 17th so with five holes to play when cleared away the water. ing to hit the tee shot, but
rain over a period of 36 to he could tee off on the 18th he returns Saturday. Dustin Johnson had three had no complaints.
48 hours. and assure his group could Daniel Berger was among birdies in his opening four “I will take that shot just
It will be the eighth Mon- finish before darkness. those at 5 under, and he holes and went out in 32 where it is,” he said with a
day finish since The Play- There’s a good chance was the first sign the conclu- before the wet greens big grin.q

J.R. Hildebrand to race ovals and

Indianapolis 500 for Foyt

Racing on Friday and will don for the win. Hildebrand mates with rookie Kyle Kirk-
make his season debut finished second. wood and Dalton Kellett,
next week at Texas Motor He ran Indianapolis last who both drive the full In-
Speedway. year for Foyt as a fourth en- dyCar schedule for Foyt.
Hildebrand will share the try and finished 15th. Hildebrand will run at Texas
No. 11 Chevrolet with Tatia- “I’m excited to have this next Sunday, Indianapolis
na Calderón, the Colombi- opportunity to get back in in May, the July double-
an hired to race the street the car, do a little more rac- header at Iowa and finally
and road courses this year. ing, and work with the A.J. at Gateway in August.
Calderón, the only woman Foyt Racing squad again,” “We had a great experi-
in the IndyCar field, has no Hildebrand said. “Although ence working with J.R. last
oval experience. the results may not have year, and there is no doubt
Hildebrand has 66 career looked special on paper, he is very competitive at
A. J. Foyt talks with J.R. Hildebrand during qualifications for the IndyCar starts, including 11 I was really impressed by Indianapolis,” team presi-
Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, straight starts in the India- what we accomplished last dent Larry Foyt said. “He is
Saturday, May 22, 2021, in Indianapolis. napolis 500. He nearly won year at the 500 and look still very motivated to drive
Associated Press the race as a rookie in 2011 forward to attacking these Indy cars and is a setup-
but crashed as the leader other ovals on the IndyCar savvy, technical driver who
By JENNA FRYER J.R. Hildebrand was named entering the final turn and schedule.” will be a strong addition to
AP Auto Racing Writer the oval driver for A.J. Foyt was passed by Dan Whel- Hildebrand will be team- our oval races this year.”q