The PGA Tour knew that weather at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday for the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship was going to play a factor. That's why officials elected to move tee times up from normal, in addition to having players go off in threesomes instead of pairs and also play off split tees. The hope was that they could beat the thunderstorms coming into the area.
While they were able to get the leaders, including Rory McIlroy, who stormed past J.J. Spaun and Bud Cauley into the leaderboard's top spot, through the front nine through just rain and wind, things got worse in a hurry — typical Florida and especially Ponte Vedra Beach, FL weather for anyone who isn't award. And at 1:15 p.m. ET, officials spotted lightning in the area, thus forcing their hand to suspend play at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Play was suspended at THE PLAYERS Championship at 1:15 p.m. due to lightning in the area.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 16, 2025
It's always a massive bummer when a tournament like THE PLAYERS sees play get suspended as so many fans are tuning into the action. But with this delay, golf fans tuning in are now worried about when the tournament and final round will get back underway. So let's take a look at the projected restart time with another look at the forecasted weather as well.
When will The Players Championship final round restart?
Update, 4:25 p.m. ET: THE PLAYERS Championship is scheduled to resume play at 5:15 p.m. ET, the PGA Tour announced. At the 4:25 p.m. ET update, officials announced that the practice and warm-up facilities had reopened for players to get ready to get back on the course in less than an hour. They will try to finish the final round and, thus, the tournament before sunset, which is slated for around 7:35 p.m. ET.
Projections currently say that the final group will need roughly two hours and 15 minutes to finish their rounds, a byproduct of going off in threesomes on Sunday morning, which will be cutting it close but is certainly doable. If things do go to a playoff, which is entirely possible given the bunched leaderboard, that would likely have to be played on Monday.
Update, 4 p.m. ET: PGA Tour and THE PLAYERS Championship officials have updated multiple times on the weather. As of the last update at 4 p.m. ET, there is still lightning and electricity in the area, which leaves things up in the air. Another update is scheduled to come around 4:30 p.m. ET.
Original Post: There has not been an official start time announced yet for the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship. However, based on the projected weather forecast from the PGA Tour and The Weather Channel, the tournament could restart between 5 p.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. ET. Again, this is Florida weather, so it's always a bit unpredictable. Having said that, that's when the storms should clear out of the area and players should be able to play safely without electricity going along with the rain and wind, which is the true reason play was suspended.
The Players Championship weather: Forecast for Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Looking deeper at the weather and the forecast at TPC Sawgrass, while there is rain projected to fall until close to 8 p.m. ET, it is supposed to switch to light rain a little after 5 p.m. ET. That would indicate the storms and the lightning ultimately moving out of the area, which is why we're projecting the final round to resume about then. That's also in line with the PGA Tour's forecast which said on Sunday morning that storms should be out of the area by around 6 p.m. ET, though it now looks like it could be a bit sooner.
That will still creat a tight finish coming down the stretch to avoid a Monday finish at THE PLAYERS Championship. The final group of Spaun, Cauley and Lucas Glover were on the 11th hole when the horn sounded to suspend play due to the weather, meaning they have roughly 7.5 holes to play before the sun sets at 7:35 p.m. ET on Sunday in Ponte Vedra Beach.
We will keep you updated with the latest forecast and restart time information at THE PLAYERS while we can't wait to see how things end up in what's been a thrilling tournament.
The Players Championship leaderboard at time of play suspension
Here's a quick look at where things stand on Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship on the leaderboard when play was suspended.
Player | Total Score | Final Round Score (Thru) |
|---|---|---|
1. Rory McIlroy | -12 | -4 (11) |
2. J.J. Spaun | -11 | +1 (10) |
T3. Tom Hoge | -10 | -6 (17) |
T3. Danny Walker | -10 | -3 (12) |
T3. Akshay Bhatia | -10 | -2 (12) |
6. Bud Cauley | -9 | +2 (10) |
T7. Robert MacIntyre | -8 | -3 (14) |
T7. Jake Knapp | -8 | -1 (13) |
T7. Patrick Cantlay | -8 | -1 (12) |
T7. Corey Conners | -8 | E (11) |
T7. Alex Smalley | -8 | +1 (11) |
As mentioned, Spaun and Cauley were in the final grouping for Sunday but had trouble getting off of the ground in their final round, both players sitting over par through the first 10 holes in the final round. That allowed a cool, calm and dialed-in Rory to charge into the lead and now getting to sit and think about trying to win THE PLAYERs during the weather delay.