After a weather delay at The Players Championship of four hours and six seconds, Rory McIlroy calmly stepped up to his approach shot on the par-4 12th hole and chipped to inside 14 feet. One putt later, McIlroy had put a two-stroke cushion between himself and the field. Moments after that, J.J. Spaun, in solo second place, missed a par putt … and just like that, McIlroy was up three strokes on the field.
When rain halted play shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern, McIlroy held the lead at -12; with Spaun at -11; and Akshay Bhatia, Tom Hoge and Danny Walker at -10.