Players Championship 2015: Updating Results and Standings for Saturday
Kevin Na and Jerry Kelly are the men to catch after two rounds of play at eight under par, but there's a boatload of contenders still in the chase.
As of noon ET, there's a total of 15 golfers separated by just three shots. Na and Kelly don't tee off until 2:40 p.m. It remains to be seen if they will still be the leaders once they take the course.
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Jhonattan Vegas and Martin Flores are among the players making an early charge Saturday. Both shot six under par through 14 holes to pull within two shots of the leaders. Neither man has an especially strong resume thus far in his career.
Vegas has made the cut in only one major, and that was at the 2011 PGA Championship, though he did finish tied for seventh at The Players Championship in 2012. Flores has never made it to the weekend in any major, but he was 48th at TPC in 2014.
The Players Championship isn't technically a major, but because of the $1.8 million purse and the star-studded field, it may as well be. We'll see if Vegas and Flores can continue to ascend or remain in contention through Sunday. There's still a ton of golf to be played.
Tracking Tiger
Things haven't gone well for Tiger Woods on Saturday. Through 13 holes, Woods was three over par. He needed a birdie on the 16th hole Friday just to make the cut at even par. He has struggled to find any consistency through nearly three rounds of golf.
He's fallen so far behind the leaders, it's probably only realistic for him to try to get under par and to use the rest of the tournament as live practice.
Rory McIlroy in Striking Distance
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy isn't among the leaders, but he's close enough to be considered dangerous. After a one-under 71 on Friday, McIlroy is at four under par for the tournament and four shots behind Na and Kelly.
We've seen him go on tears that could eliminate that deficit in a little over an hour. He's seemingly flirting with that type of stretch at TPC. McIlroy didn't seem too worried about his chances after his round Friday.
According to Brian Wacker of PGATour.com, McIlroy said, "I was happy to birdie 9 and disappointed not to at least pick up a shot coming in there. But anything under par is a decent score, and right in there going into the weekend."
That's correct, and that's also the right attitude and temperament to have. A younger and less experienced McIlroy might be down on himself, but his poise has now become one of his best attributes. We'll see if he can make a run this weekend.
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