Tommy Fleetwood shrugs off FOUR-HOUR lightning delay to lead at Sawgrass

Tommy Fleetwood was standing over an 8ft birdie putt to move to five under par and the sole early lead at the Players Championship on Thursday when the dreaded siren signalling lightning in the area sounded.

It has been that sort of 18 months for the personable Englishman. 

Every time you think he is back to his brilliant best, something untoward happens.

When play finally resumed Fleetwood, thankfully, rolled in the birdie putt. He then made a good up and down from a greenside bunker for a par and another birdie at the fifth, his 14th hole, moved him to six under, in a share of the lead with American Harold Varner with four holes to play.

Fleetwood had a chance to win in Dubai and Saudi Arabia this year but did not play well on either Sunday. He then moved to America and promptly missed the halfway cut at one of his favourite events, the Honda Classic.

He looked like he had missed another come Friday lunchtime at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, but the wind picked up and the cut mark rose to save him. He then played well over the weekend to finish 20th and stave off the indignity of falling outside the world’s top 50 for the first time in five years.

On Wednesday afternoon he was in good spirits here as he played a practice round with Justin Rose. He was clearly flushing it but wisely reluctant to draw too many conclusions. 

‘Only time will tell if I found something over the weekend at Bay Hill but it does feel a lot better,’ he conceded.

He was just lengthening his stride with a chance for a third straight birdie when the delay came.   

Starting at the 10th, he birdied the two par-fives, the 11th and the 16th, and then made a good 7ft putt for par at the 17th. At the 18th he got a real bonus, chipping in from thick rough just short of the green. He followed that by holing from 10ft to birdie the first too.

Even one of the most easy-going pros must have felt frustrated at the timing of the delay although, given the horrendous weather forecast, it came as no real shock. Along with wife Clare and stepson Mo, he retreated to the clubhouse for more than four hours.

Tyrrell Hatton, runner-up at the Arnold Palmer on Sunday, and Shane Lowry, second the week before at the Honda, were both two under par after eight holes.

Much of the locker-room talk during the delay will have centred on the startling image of Tiger Woods attending Marvel Comics conventions dressed as Batman, a revelation courtesy of his 14-year-old daughter Sam, who gave the introduction speech for her father’s induction into the sport’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

As for Tiger, he spoke for 25 minutes without notes and never once mentioned any of his 15 major wins. Classy.