PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Russell Henley didn’t get the memo. The horn sounded at 12:09 a.m. ET on Thursday and the first round of the 2026 TPC Sawgrass Players Championship was suspended as a line of showers moved through the area. The PGA Tour instructed players to stay put. Henry did the opposite.
“I didn’t stay there,” he said Thursday after opening with a 4-under 68. “I was by the clubhouse and we ran in because I thought it was going to be like a tornado and it was raining really, really hard.”
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The heavy rain did not last long, and the PGA Tour resumed play after only 21 minutes. Henry almost didn’t make it back to the pitch.
He was on the par-5 second hole near the green, just a few hundred yards from the clubhouse. When play was about to resume, Henry was about to get something to eat when a pro player gave him a warning.
“I was eating lunch when I went in and Ben Griffin said, ‘Start again in four minutes,'” Henry said. Lunch plans were quickly canceled and Henry hurried back to the pitch.
“The 10 minutes went by very quickly and it was stressful,” Henry said. “But on time.”
It sounds like Henry owes Benny Boms a drink in the near future.
This article originally appeared in Golfweek: 2026 Players: Russell Henley nearly misses restart due to weather