Associated Press
Monday, March 27

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Hal Sutton got the challenge he wanted and played the way he expected. The only thing that stopped him from winning his showdown against Tiger Woods in The Players Championship on Sunday was the weather.

	Spectators head for cover when thunderstorms arrived at The Players Championship.

Sutton was nearly flawless for 11 holes in building a three-stroke lead over Woods when thunderstorms drenched the TPC at Sawgrass and suspended the final round until Monday.

"Obviously, I'd have liked to keep playing," Sutton said.

No wonder. Sutton didn't miss any fairways and only one green, and that followed a bunker shot that he ranks among the best of his career to save par.

Woods failed to birdie three par 5s, twice had to get up-and-down for bogey and bolted off the course when the siren sounded.

When play resumes, Woods will have a 40-foot birdie putt on the 12th, while Sutton has 82 yards left for his second shot from -- where else? -- the fairway.

"Things aren't going exactly the way I wanted," Woods said with a smile.

But he wasn't exactly counting himself out. Remember, his record is 1-0 in Monday finishes, having stormed from seven strokes behind with seven holes to play last month to win at Pebble Beach.

And no lead is safe as long as the island-green 17th is still to be played.

"Three shots back is nothing on a golf course with the trouble that's out there," Woods said. "If there's any golf course you want to play when you're behind, it's one like this."

Sutton also has a little history on his side. He won The Players Championship in 1983, the last time weather forced a Monday finish.

"I was thinking about that up in the locker room," he said. "I don't know if that has anything to do with anything, but it was nice to think about."

What matters more is his play, and he had few complaints after an abbreviated day that featured rock-steady play by Sutton and several blown opportunities by both players.

From the first cut of rough after a 3-wood that traveled 323 yards, Woods hit a wedge into 10 feet for birdie on the first hole to tie Sutton at 9-under.

That turned out to be the only birdie on the front nine.

After Woods missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 second hole that would have given him the lead, he had to chip for par from the fringe on the next two holes because of a bad lie in the bunker on No. 3 and a chunked chip out of the ankle-deep rough on the fourth.

He bogeyed both, and was lucky to be only two strokes down.

While Sutton was everything he promised to be -- fairways and greens -- he couldn't get a putt to fall. His 6-footer on the first hole was halfway in before it lipped out. He missed from 12 feet on No. 2, from 10 feet on No. 3 and from 6 feet on No. 4.

Rarely can one miss so many opportunities without it coming back to cost him later. But Sutton didn't flinch, and Woods failed to apply pressure by missing birdie putts of 15 feet or less on the next five holes.

"I stayed in my game plan," Sutton said.

His putter didn't desert him the entire day. On two occasions, when it seemed as though Woods was poised to cut into the lead, Sutton responded with huge putts and that strong, uppercut fist pump that was such a common sight during the Ryder Cup.

His feet awkwardly planted in the shaggy grass above the ball, he blasted out of the bunker on the par-3 eighth to 10 feet and saved his par. It was the first green he missed, and the first key putt he made.

"I was thinking this could be big, really turnaround one way or the other," Sutton said. "I made sure I stayed in the shot and just flushed it. I couldn't have dreamed it any closer than that."

Then on the 11th, Woods hit a delicate bump-and-run up the slope to 6 feet, while Sutton's chip from the rough rolled back down the hill to 30 feet. Sutton sank the putt, and Woods pulled his to the left for a three-stroke lead.

Nick Price had a 5-under 67 and was in the clubhouse at 4-under 284. He was tied with Colin Montgomerie, Jeff Maggert, Lee Janzen and Tom Lehman, who were still on the course.

Tournament officials said they were confident that, despite the rain, the greens would be at the same speed when play resumes Monday.

The final seven holes almost certainly will come down to Sutton and Woods, which is exactly what both of them wanted. For Sutton, it's a chance to prove he can tame the No. 1 player in the world. For Woods, it's simply another chance to win.