On 11 under, Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia are tied for first place, while JJ Spaun is in third place. Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa are tied for fourth. Justin Thomas’ incredible 62 equals the TPC Sawgrass course record.
Despite having a dismal second round finish at The Players, Rory McIlroy remains two strokes behind the halfway lead as Justin Thomas made a remarkable recovery to surge back into contention.
After making six birdies in his first 11 holes, McIlroy put up a much better show off the tee and momentarily led the leaderboard. However, he bogeyed two of his next four holes and finished with a second-round 68.
With McIlroy tied for fourth place with Collin Morikawa and Alex Smalley, the world No. 2 is in touch with Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia, who both shot 66s to lead on 11 under ahead of JJ Spaun, going into the weekend at nine under.
Thomas recovered from his opening-round 78 with an incredible 10-under 62, while Tommy Fleetwood is four strokes behind the leader at six-under 66 and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is six back as he attempts a historic three-peat at the event.
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After making 11 birdies in his second round, which tied the course record despite bogeying his closing hole of the day, Thomas, who was eight over after 13 holes on the first round, is now only seven strokes behind the leader.
PGA Tour – The Players
TPC Sawgrass, USA, March 16-19, 2025
Page 1 of 8
| # | Player | Nat. | Par | R1 | R2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akshay Bhatia | −11 | 67 | 66 | |
| 1 | Min-Woo Lee | −11 | 67 | 66 | |
| 3 | J. J. Spaun | −10 | 66 | 68 | |
| 4 | Rory McIlroy | −9 | 67 | 68 | |
| 4 | Collin Morikawa | −9 | 70 | 65 | |
| 4 | Alex Smalley | −9 | 68 | 67 | |
| 7 | Lucas Glover | −8 | 66 | 70 | |
| 7 | Will Zalatoris | −8 | 70 | 66 | |
| 9 | Tommy Fleetwood | −7 | 71 | 66 | |
| 9 | Jake Knapp | −7 | 69 | 68 | |
| 11 | Jacob Bridgeman | −6 | 69 | 69 | |
| 11 | Harris English | −6 | 72 | 66 | |
| 11 | Emiliano Grillo | −6 | 68 | 70 | |
| 11 | Billy Horschel | −6 | 67 | 71 | |
| 11 | Sepp Straka | −6 | 70 | 68 | |
| 16 | Patrick Cantlay | −5 | 69 | 70 | |
| 16 | Rickie Fowler | −5 | 68 | 71 | |
| 16 | Charley Hoffman | −5 | 74 | 65 | |
| 16 | Beau Hossler | −5 | 70 | 69 | |
| 16 | Stephan Jaeger | −5 | 68 | 71 |
Despite late bogeys, McIlroy remained in the game after chipping in from the tenth green, his first hole of the day. He then responded by birdieing three of his next five holes and adding another at the par-four 18th after missing a five-foot chance at the par-five next.
After taking advantage of the par-five second to get six under for the day, he reached the turn in 31 and briefly led. However, he was unable to get out of the sand at the par-four sixth hole and bogeyed the par-five ninth after a misplaced approach shot.
When asked to rate his swing after finding just four fairways in his opening-round 67, McIlroy responded, “Much better.” “Off the tee, hit it considerably better. In six holes today, I believe I hit more fairways than I did in eighteen yesterday.
“Yeah, I was able to give myself some opportunities and make some birdies early after getting it in play much better. It was much better off the tee, but it was not quite possible to carry that over to the back nine.”
Lee set the clubhouse target after six birdies in the space of nine holes during his round, with the Australian’s only dropped shot coming at the par-five ninth, while Bhatia carded eight birdies and two bogeys to also post 66 and get to 11 under.
Thomas makes a remarkable return.
The former world No. 1 began his amazing comeback with back-to-back birdies, and 2021 champion Thomas showed a staggering 16-shot improvement on his opening round, where he needed a birdie-birdie finish simply to shoot 78.
Thomas went nine under for the day after making four consecutive birdies from the 11th hole and adding three more in a front-nine 31. He then picked up a shot at the par-five 16th hole and drained a 20-footer at the famous 17th hole.
Thomas went nine under for the day after making four consecutive birdies from the 11th hole and adding three more in a front-nine 31. He then picked up a shot at the par-five 16th hole and drained a 20-footer at the famous 17th hole.
Playing with Scheffler and McIlroy, two-time major winner Xander Schauffele finished on one under after birdieing the ninth hole, his last of the day. This puts his streak of made cuts at 59, the longest since Tiger Woods’ 142-hole run from 1998 to 2005.
While Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Åberg, and Viktor Hovland were among the well-known figures who did not make it to the weekend, Shane Lowry also made it through on the cut mark of one under.
