Canadian Adam Svensson takes two-shot lead into weekend at The Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Canadian Adam Svensson will take a two-shot lead into the third round of The Players Championship.

Svensson, from Surrey, B.C. birdied two holes Saturday morning to complete his second round with a 5-under 67. The second round was suspended Friday just before 4:30 p.m. ET due to inclement weather and resumed Saturday morning at 7:01 a.m. ET.

Svensson made four birdies through his first 11 holes in his second round. He had two birdies in a row to start his second nine and was on the tee of the par-3 third — he started on the back nine — when the horn sounded.

He bogeyed his first hole Saturday morning, the par-3 3rd, but bounced back nicely after that with circles on his card on Nos. 5 and 9.

The birdie on No. 9 was not without adventure, though. Svensson blew his approach shot on the par five on top of a food services tent, but it trickled down and stopped on top of a power generator. He got a free drop from the hospitality area, knocked a wedge to five feet, and rolled in the putt.

Svensson will be in the final group for the third round alongside world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, who sits alone in second at 7 under, and Ben Griffin, who is tied for third at 6 under.

Svensson said earlier in the week that he’s been putting the best he ever has. Combine that with his all-world ball striking and he’s feeling like he’s got a complete game through two rounds.

“I’ve been putting pretty well the last couple weeks, and this is my first time in my career I’ve felt confident with the putter, and it’s been awesome,” Svensson said Saturday morning.

The 29-year-old has had strong results lately, tying for 24th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week and tying for ninth at the Genesis Invitational last month.

Both tournaments are designated events on the PGA Tour schedule.

Svensson recorded his first PGA Tour win at the RSM Classic in November, but this event is competition on another level. Still, he is comfortable atop the leaderboard.

“I’ve been playing pretty solid. I haven’t made very many bogeys. I’m just super relaxed and enjoying the golf course,” Svensson said on Friday night.

Svensson is one of three Canadians in the top 20 through 36 holes at TPC Sawgrass. Richmond Hill’s Taylor Pendrith was tied for 9th at 4-under after finishing his second round on Saturday morning with a 1-over 71. Adam Hadwin shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 17th. He also finished on Saturday morning.

Pendrith bogeyed the par-4 6th on Saturday morning and admitted he had “a missed opportunity” not taking advantage of the par-5 16th, a hole he eagled in the first round.

He was the only golfer in the field to hit all 14 fairways in the first round but said Friday that “a lot” of the tee shots featured wind blowing in a completely different direction. He hit only six fairways in his second round.

“I feel like I drove it really nicely the first day. Yesterday I was grinding pretty hard. It was playing very difficult, and I was just trying to stay patient and overall, I played pretty solid,” Pendrith, who finished tied for 13th in his Players debut last year, told the Star.

Hadwin was in the midst of a tidy front nine before play was suspended. He made birdies on Nos. 4, 7, and 8 and was four feet away for another birdie on the par-5 ninth hole, which he rolled in Saturday morning. He bogeyed three holes after making the turn but got one back with a birdie on the par-5 16th.

Nick Taylor (5 over), Corey Conners (6 over), and Mackenzie Hughes (7 over) all missed the cut, which came at 2 over.

The winner of The Players Championship receives a record $4.5-million (U.S.) first-place prize.

Other notables who had an early exit at TPC Sawgrass include the reigning U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick, last week’s PGA Tour winner Kurt Kitayama, and world No. 3 Rory McIlroy.

This was McIlroy’s sixth missed cut at The Players, a course he calls an “enigma.” The biggest global star in the game attributed at least some of his poor effort this week to how busy he’s been carrying the weight of the PGA Tour and it’s go-forward plan on his shoulders. He participated in a seven-hour PGA Tour board meeting last week, for example.

“I’m ready,” McIlroy said, “to get back to being purely a golfer.”

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