The weather forecast for this week at The Players Championship looks dire but PGA Tour meteorologist on duty this week at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Wade Stettner, is taking the optimistic approach.
“I think they’ll be able to play some golf every day,” he said. “The rainfall amounts we think we’re going to see don’t look like they would be heavy enough to make the course unplayable, given the fact that the drainage is so good and they’ve got the technology to take moisture out of the greens.”
But what will stop the competition in its tracks after the tournament begins on Thursday is lightning — dangerous to players, fans, volunteers and tournament staff.
“Lightning is what will require them to pull everyone off,” he said.
Some players were already groaning.
“I don’t like rain,” said Paul Casey. “There’s a reason I moved from England to Arizona.”
And some were, well, like ducks to water.
“I grew up in Scotland,” said Russell Knox. “I hope it blows 25 [mph] and pours rain.”
Defending champion Justin Thomas said that if conditions come as advertised, especially on the weekend, it will be interesting.
“When you get wind and cold temperatures like that, it’s just a different animal,” he said about the course. “It’s really just a survival-type thing.”
But he was hopeful.
“At the end of the day, weather people are wrong all the time,” he said. “There’s no reason getting too wrapped up in it.”
Rain moves into Ponte Vedra Beach during the third round of The Players Championship.
The Players at least had Monday and Tuesday, with the sun out and temperatures touching 80 degrees. Almost all of them were taking advantage of the Tour policy that allows shorts during practice rounds.
Stettner said fans should still plan on coming to the golf course on the days they have tickets. Weather warnings will be issued well before any dangerous conditions exist and evacuation plans will begin.
But after the warm and sunny conditions of the past week — and a dry winter — typically crazy March weather appears to be coming. The forecast on Tuesday for Wednesday is a 50 percent chance of rain, going up to 80 percent on Thursday and 90 percent on Friday. Temperatures will at least be in the 70s on those days.
“I think the worst of it will be Friday,” Stettner said.
He’s also not prepared to predict the possibility of a Monday finish, which hasn’t happened on the PGA Tour since The Northern Trust last August at Liberty National in New Jersey — a span of 21 events.
“If we can get through two rounds and make the cut, the rules officials can put the players in threesomes with split tees [going off Nos. 1 and 10],” he said. “At this point, I don’t see any reason we can’t finish on Sunday.”
Saturday will see some clearing, but it will make way for lower temperatures and brisk wind out of the north. Sunday’s forecast is mostly sunny but fans should bundle up: the current prediction is for a high of 54, which could make it the coldest day in tournament history. Winds will be out of the Northeast at around 10 mph.
After little to no rain for most of the winter, Stettner said the coming wet stuff is courtesy of a front that will stall over Northeast Florida. The Tour has also played most of its events on the Western Swing, then at the Honda Classic and the Palmer Invitational, under superb conditions.
“It’s been beautiful weather,” Knox said. “Amazing … we were definitely due [for rain and wind].”
If the tournament has to go to a Monday finish, which hasn’t happened since 2005, it might be the best day of the week: 67 degrees and little chance of rain.
What is offering optimism is the nature of the playing surface given a wholesale renovation in 2006 and several touchups since then. In addition to adding sandy soil that promotes better drainage, the Tour has a system under the greens that draws moisture from the putting surface at the whim of agronomy director Jeff Plotts.
It’s why the tournament was able to finish on Sunday despite weekend downpours in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
The last Monday finish was the result of perhaps the worst weather over an entire tournament week in Players history. After a perfect first round, the entire second round was lost because of rain, and play was interrupted on Saturday and Sunday as well.
Most of the third round and all of the fourth round was finished on Monday, and came close to having to finish on Tuesday.
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