2022 Players Championship leaderboard, scores: Round 2 continues as rain, wind wreak havoc on TPC Sawgrass

The second round has not yet been completed three days into the Players Championship

Saturday at the 2022 Players Championship was about as fun as golf viewing gets. For the golfers who had to take on TPC Sawgrass in 30-mile per hour winds as temperatures fluctuated 25 degrees, maybe not so much. But the third day of the event provided some of the most compelling theater of the entire golf year.

Round 1, which was suspended on both Thursday and Friday, was finally completed late Saturday morning. That wave of golfers went right back out and started Round 2 in blustery conditions. The top of the leaderboard didn't change much from the start of the day. Tommy Fleetwood, who only played three holes on Saturday, added a birdie to his total but eventually dropped a stroke and remains tied for the lead with Tom Hoge at 6 under. There was complete chaos further back (we'll get to that below).

Only 48 of the 144 golfers in the field have finished Round 2, and only four of those 48 shot anything under par on Saturday.

Here are five takeaways from Saturday's festivities and some thoughts going into the final few days of this tournament.

1. Good/bad draw

It will be fascinating to see what the final numbers are on this, but there was definitely a bad side of the draw this week, and it included most of the players we saw on Saturday. Here's a synopsis.

Early-late tee times: Played Round 1 on Thursday in benign conditions, missed all of the rain on Friday, played a few holes on Saturday in slightly easier conditions than the middle of the day and will finish Round 2 on Sunday in cold but not as windy conditions as we saw Saturday.

Late-early tee times: Missed most of Thursday when conditions were easy, played in the driving rain on Friday for a few hours, came back and played the rest of Round 1 and all of Round 2 in insane winds on Saturday. A handful of golfers will finish in those early Sunday conditions (cold but not as breezy).

Kevin Kisner, who is 2 under through 36 holes, voiced his opinion: "No, it's brutal, man. It's pure luck and somewhat loss of integrity of the tournament in my opinion, but it is what it is. We've got 36 more holes to figure out who's playing the best." Asked to clarify, he appeared to be referring more to bad luck than loss of integrity: "Balls rolling on the greens, only 72 of us playing in that. I don't know. It's just going to be different [Sunday]. I understand the difference in the waves, but when I got to 17 and 18, you couldn't hardly stand up much less hit a golf shot."

I hear what Kisner is saying, but I think that's just part of the deal for the late-early draw, which Kinser acknowledged later. Only one of the golfers from that draw -- Doug Ghim, currently on the 15th hole -- is in the top 14 on the current leaderboard. It's going to be extraordinarily difficult -- especially if the wind lays down for the early-late group on Sunday as they finish Round 2 -- for anybody from the late-early group that played the majority of their golf on Saturday to go on and win the tournament.

2. Conditions are wild

Here's three examples: (a) Rory McIlroy said he played 60 yards of wind on the par-3 17th. (b) Justin Thomas said he hit two pitching wedged 185 yards and a 5-wood 193 yards. (c) This.

It led to a scoring average in Round 2 of 75.4 (so far). The back nine played to an average (an average!) of 38.6, and the final two holes averaged 8.7 strokes (par would be seven strokes). Add it all up, and you get an absolutely beautiful disaster.

3. J.T.'s show

There were two bogey-free rounds on Saturday. Bubba Watson shot a 4-under 68, and 2021 champion Justin Thomas shot a 3-under 69. Both are 3 under on the week. I didn't see as much of Watson's round (he gained 7.4 strokes on the field, by the way), but J.T.'s day was an absolute smorgasbord of flighted shots going both ways in the nastiest possible conditions. It was breathtaking to behold and led to a round in which he gained over six strokes on the field and played his way into a position where he could become the first player ever to win back to back Players Championships at TPC Sawgrass.

The best example of his diverse array of shots came on No. 17 (where he flighted a 6-iron on a 135-yard shot) and on No. 18 (where he flighted a 5-wood 190 yards). Stunningly good shots into absolute gales.

"Yeah, it's one of those days I think could be really fun to play if you're home," said Thomas. "It's not really fun when it's TPC Sawgrass for The Players, and you're kind of around the cut line to start the day. It's so hard." He also called it one of the best rounds he's ever played.

4. The Island Green was outrageous

Not counting the end of Round 1 (grotesque enough on its own), the 17th in Round 2 was a joke. Two birdies, 10 bogeys, 10 doubles and four of the dreaded "other". Guys were missing the green by 15, 20 and 25 yards. Brooks Koepka, who shot 81 in Round 2 and had to play No. 17 twice but didn't hit the green either time, could only howl after he got blasted by a huge gust right as he hit his shot.

"It's one of those things you just try to hit the right shot," said Koepka. "It's like anything. You try to hit the right shot, and hopefully it doesn't gust up or doesn't die down the second you do it."

5. New odds

So, after a round and a half, what do the odds look like? I'm glad you asked, and Caesars Sportsbook is here to provide the answer.

• Jon Rahm: 7-1
• Justin Thomas: 11-1
• Cam Smith: 11-1
• Louis Oosthuizen: 12-1
• Tommy Fleetwood: 12-1
• Joaquin Niemann: 12-1
• Tom Hoge: 14-1
• Sam Burns: 16-1
• Abraham Ancer: 20-1
• Will Zalatoris: 20-1
• Viktor Hovland: 22-1
• Keith Mitchell: 22-1

Clearly, odds have been tilted toward players who didn't have to play in the worst of the conditions on Saturday afternoon. Burns is really intriguing at 16-1. So is Zalatoris at 20-1. Whatever Rahm does on Sunday morning will dictate all of this a lot. He didn't tee off Saturday, so it will have been three days since he hit a golf shot. If he fires a 68 in Round 2 before Round 3 gets going on Sunday afternoon, he's going to be a massive favorite to win his first Players Championship no matter what anyone else does.

Play will resume at 8:15 a.m. ET on Sunday with a cut expected to be established in the late morning or early afternoon. Winds in the 10-20 mph range are expected once again. The third round will be completed on Monday with hope that the final 18 holes can also be finished before sunset.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 6:31 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

We're getting pretty close to dark out there, which means Saturday is almost over and the second round isn't even close to being completed. JT closes with a par on his last hole for a 69 to get to -3 on the board. That should be in the top 10 when the third round starts.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 6:18 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Tommy Fleetwood birdies the par-5 second to get to -7. He's up one on Tom Hoge right now and will probably only play one or two more holes.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 6:03 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Oh no, Straka hit his penalty area shot into the water, too. He's going to make 7 at the 17th.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 6:00 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Sepp Straka hooks one in the water on No. 17. He's going to fall back from his current position of -5, which was one back of the lead. Bubba Watson, who has the round of the day going, is in the same group and found the green safely.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 5:12 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Bubba makes par at No. 14 to keep a 4-under round going. He and JT are the only bogey-free players, according to the broadcast. Massive opportunity to really get in the mix on this leaderboard if he can figure out how to par in.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 5:07 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Great, great stat here.

[Mar 12, 2022 at 4:59 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

JT has every shot. What a pleasure this round has been. He just hit a cut driver on No. 4 than ran almost all the way to the water. Up and down from there to get to -3.