Players Championship 2016: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Friday

The Players Championship is annually renowned for boasting one of the deepest fields on the PGA Tour, and Friday’s second round didn’t do anything to dispel that notion before it was suspended because of darkness following a two-hour weather delay.

Second-round play will resume at 9:15 a.m. ET on Saturday morning. 

After Jason Day tied a course record at TPC Sawgrass with a 63 on Thursday, 30-year-old Colt Knost—who has never won a PGA Tour event—rebounded from an opening-round 72 to tie Day’s mark and snatched a share of the course record Friday.

Rory McIlory also bounced back in a big way. The four-time major winner shot eight under to enter contention with Round 3 on the horizon, and he fell just a stroke shy of joining Knost and Day as a shareholder of the course record in the process.

But with 32 holes in the bag, Day continues to own the lead thanks to a bogey-free effort at 14 under par.

Here’s a look at the top of the leaderboard as moving day approaches: 

Highlights aplenty filtered out of Friday’s early groupings, with Jonas Blixt (10 under), Alex Cejka (10 under) and Boo Weekley (nine under) all thriving.

However, Knost and McIlroy stood out among a talented pack at the top. 

Knost, who has zero top-10 finishes this season and just six in his career, had a shot at carding a course-record 62 and finishing 10 under for the day, but he three-putted for a bogey on No. 18, according to Golf Channel:

Great round. @ColtKnost (-9) came *thisclose* to setting a new course record. Ties it with bogey on 18 to post 63. pic.twitter.com/HauB1vPDBJ

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 13, 2016

During his superlative round, Knost hit all 18 greens in regulation, marking just the fifth time a player has done so at TPC Sawgrass, according to Golf Channel’s Justin Ray.

McIlroy also thrived in the morning, and as a result, he’s able to boast some record-tying credentials. Like Knost, McIlroy shot an even-par round of 72 on Thursday but moved up the leaderboard and finished six shots off the pace Friday.

Following a start on the 10th tee, McIlroy opened his day with a 29 on the back nine—which tied the mark Shane Lowry set Thursday, per ESPN.com’s Bob Harig. The Irishman carded five birdies on the back to go with an outrageous long-range eagle on No. 16, as the PGA Tour documented on Twitter: 

????????????????????????????-7 thru 7. https://t.co/UdeiiAlDzI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 13, 2016

According to Golf Channel, McIlroy is now 44 under on the back nine at TPC Sawgrass over the past four years—25 shots better than any other player during that …

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