Durant, Westwood, Herron, Donald in front
Updated: March 27, 2005, 11:57 AM ET
SportsTicker
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- More than two days after it began, the second round of The Players Championship ended Sunday morning with Tiger Woods making the cut -- barely -- and Luke Donald and Tim Herron joining Lee Westwood and Joe Durant atop the leaderboard.
Woods missed a 15-footer for par on the final hole, finishing a 1-over 73 and dropping to 1-under 143. That was right on the number to keep playing and extended his PGA Tour streak of 140 straight events without missing a cut.
The 84 golfers left will go right back out for the third round Sunday as they try and conclude this $8 million event as quickly as they can. Without further delays, that means a final round Monday.
But after what it took to get the second round in, who knows?
Competitors played only 44 minutes Friday before thunderstorms canceled things. On Saturday, the PGA Tour took the unusual step of wiping out the scores of 30 golfers who got out before the stoppage, restarting the round so everyone could lift, clean and place their balls in the soggy fairways.
And then came another delay of about three hours for rain and fog. While half the field finished, there were 71 golfers, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and first-round leader Steve Jones, who returned to the course at 7:30 a.m. Sunday under sunny skies to end their rounds.
Donald (68), a shot behind Jones when the round started two weeks -- uh, days -- ago, nosed himself among the leaders at 10-under 134 with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole.
Westwood (69) and Durant (65) finished their rounds Saturday.
Herron (66) used a run of seven birdies in eight holes to reach 11-under. He had a double bogey out of the rough on the 14th hole and ended the round with a 5-foot put for birdie to catch the leaders.
Meanwhile, Jones could not follow up his first-round 64. He had consecutive double bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes and stumbled in with a 5-over 77, seven shots off the lead.
"I guess it was more difficult than I realized," Jones said. "Obviously, things got worse the longer it took."
For Woods, it was the second straight year he flirted with missing the cut here. The 2001 Players champion opened with a 75 last year but quickly got off the bubble with a birdie-eagle start.
Woods didn't appear to be in trouble Sunday, returning to the course at 3 under to start on the par-5 11th. It didn't take long to get into trouble.
His tee shot sailed into the trees and landed in a palmetto bush. After taking a penalty drop and pitching sideways into the fairway, he hit just short of the green and failed to get up-and-down for double bogey.
That dropped him one below the projected cut. And after a 2-foot birdie on the 12th to get back to 2 under, the rest of the back nine was a struggle.
On the 14th, he hit into the side of a hill and had to grip a 5-iron on the shaft to get at the ball. He wound up saving par with a 6-foot putt. He hit into the trees on the par-5 16th, chipped out through the fairway and into the rough and eventually faced a 12-footer for par.
The cut was 2 under at the time, and Woods made it for par.
By the time he got to the 18th, the cut moved to 1 under. Woods was angered at a camera that went off on his downswing, the 2-iron finding rough on the right so deep that he quickly chopped out down the fairway. His 18-footer for par lipped out, and he had to wait about an hour to make sure the cut remained at 1 under.
That gave him one of last third-round tee times Sunday -- but from the 10th tee, along with the rest of the guys in the cellar.
It was the first time Woods made the cut on the number since the Masters in 2003 when he was at 5-over par at Augusta National.
Mickelson had three birdies Sunday morning, including one on No. 17 after sticking his tee shot 5 feet from the cup at the island green. He stood at 6-under 138, four shots back.
"It's a weird feeling, it feels like we only have one round left, so being four or five shots back feels like it would be overwhelming," Mickelson said. "But being only halfway done, guys around 4, 5, 6 under can post a good low round and get right back in it."
Vijay Singh finished a 2-over 74, tied in a large group at 3 under.
Ernie Els, the last of the PGA Tour's Big Four, ended his round Saturday. He stood at 2-under.
Officials will send threesomes off the first and 10th tees to squeeze in as much golf as possible. Another round of storms is forecast for Sunday.
Another delay or two and the tour's first Tuesday finish in 25 years -- remember Jim Colbert's victory over Dan Halldorson at the 1980 Joe Garagiola Tucson Open? -- could happen.
Even the dreaded word "Wednesday" was brought up to PGA Tour tournament director Mark Russell, who said it would take approval from tour commissioner, Tim Finchem.
That's what it might take to get in all four rounds of golf's fifth major.
