Rory McIlroy faces battle to make cut at weather-hit Players Championship, Jon Rahm withdraws due to illness

Rory McIlroy faces a battle to make the cut at the weather-hit Players Championship at Sawgrass in Florida.

World No. 1 Jon Rahm withdrew from the tournament owing to illness ahead of the second round while McIlroy’s playing partner Scottie Scheffler sits on five under, one stroke shy of club house leader Ben Griffin.

The second round was suspended on Friday owing to storms with the Northern Irishman McIlroy six over par after 10 holes. He is 14 behind Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Adam Svensson, who lead the field on eight under after 14 and 11 holes respectively.

Play was suspended at 16:30 local time and will not resume until Saturday morning.

McIlroy followed up a four-over-par first-round 76 with a bogey on the fifth and a double bogey on the sixth to leave him at seven over. A birdie on the seventh offered some respite for the Northern Irishman but with the cut projected to be one or two over, he has work to do when play resumes on Saturday.

World No. 3 Scheffler added birdies on the ninth and 10th holes to move to five under before the threat of storms brought play to a premature conclusion. Scheffler and McIlroy will return on Saturday to complete their second rounds but world No. 1 Rahm withdrew prior to Friday’s action due to illness.

The Spaniard had been one of the most dangerous and consistent players on the circuit in recent months, having won five of the last 10 events he competed at.

His last victory was in the Genesis Invitational last month, with Scheffler and McIlroy – both at the tournament this week – alongside him. If either of those two golfers win the event this week, then they will move back to No. 1 in the world rankings.