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(CNN) — An enthralling final round of The Players Championship was suspended Sunday due to lightning in the area at the Florida venue.
Tee times had been pushed forward in a bid to finish the PGA Tour’s flagship event before incoming storms arrived, yet play was stopped at 1:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. GMT) after rain and thunderclaps began at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Fans were “encouraged to exit the premises for their safety,” tournament organizers said in a statement, with PGA Tour Communications adding in a post on X that lightning in the area was the reason for play’s suspension.
Violent tornadoes have raked across the Midwest and South of the US as part of a major storm that has left at least 35 dead since Friday, with more than 60 million people under threat for severe storms Sunday from Pennsylvania to Florida as the larger system shifts eastward.
The PGA Tour had forecasted storms to reach the Stadium Course between 3 and 5 p.m. and subsequently sent out the first playing groups at 8 a.m ET, just over three-and-a-half hours earlier than last year’s start time, in a bid to avoid a first Monday finish since 2022.
Play is set to resume at 5:15 p.m. ET (9:15 p.m. GMT), with all Sunday ticketed spectators permitted to enter using their original ticket, tournament organizers announced at 4:26 p.m. ET.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy leads the tournament after completing 11 holes before play was suspended, with American J.J Spaun one shot – and one hole – behind.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy made a blistering birdie-eagle start to hunt down 54-hole leader Spaun, who – at world No. 57 – is bidding to become the lowest ranked player to win the tournament since 2017.
An all-American trio of Tom Hoge, Akshay Bhatia and Danny Walker sit just two shots behind 2019 champion McIlroy.
Though Hoge has just one hole left to complete, 23-year-old Bhatia and world No. 284 Walker – who only secured his place in the field an hour before tee off Thursday after Jason Day withdrew – will have ample opportunities to close the gap with six holes remaining.
A $4.5 million winner’s cut of a $25 million prize purse awaits the champion.
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