Westwood, Durant lead TPC

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Lee Westwood and Joe Durant would have gladly taken this situation at the start of the week — tied for the lead in The Players Championship after three days of golf’s richest tournament.

What they want now is to be there at the start of next week.

When darkness fell over the TPC at Sawgrass late Saturday, Westwood and Durant were in the clubhouse and atop the leaderboard with two rounds in the books, not sure what today would bring them other than a chance to sleep in.

The only other certainty: The Players Championship was going overtime for the third time in six years.

Another rain delay kept the second round from being completed, and the best hope was to finish Monday.

“The weather is better in England at the moment,” Westwood said.

Even by PGA Tour standards — seven of 13 tournaments delayed by weather this year — this day was bizarre.

Thirty players who thought they were going to resume the second round Saturday morning instead had to erase their scores and start over so everyone could lift, clean and place their balls in the soggy fairways.

It was so sloppy and slippery that two golf carts slid down a hill and into a pond, although both drivers jumped out before their buggies took a plunge. Then came another three-hour rain delay.

Steve Jones opened with a 64, then waited 50 hours to hit his next shot.

“You hit a couple of shots and then sit for six hours,” U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen said. “You spend your time finding which is the most comfortable seat in the clubhouse.”

Right now, it belongs to Durant and Westwood — but only because they finished.

Durant tied the back-nine record with a 30 for a 7-under 65.

Westwood overcame a double bogey early in his round for a 69 that left he and Durant atop the leaderboard when darkness suspended the second round.

Seventy-one players, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, were expected to return at 7:30 this morning to finish the second round.

That circumstance all but assured a Monday finish, but with rain still in the forecast, there was still a chance for the first Tuesday finish on tour in 25 years.

“You just have to put up with it and just be patient and accept it,” said Westwood, who joined Durant at 10-under 134. “You’re going to be doing a lot of sitting around.”

Jones birdied his last hole and also was 10 under par with nine holes to play. Luke Donald was 9 under through 13.

Zach Johnson made two double bogeys, including a tee shot into the water on the 18th hole, for a 2-under 70 that left him one shot behind.

Others who finished were defending champion Adam Scott (68) and Fred Funk (72), who were at 7-under 137.

The conditions and rain delays dampened the enthusiasm at one of golf’s most electric tournaments, although the downsized gallery still caught a glimpse of the good and evil that Sawgrass produces.

Vijay Singh was working his way up the leaderboard when he pumped two tee shots into the water on the 18th hole and made a quadruple-bogey 8, sending him to a 74 and leaving him at least seven shots behind at 3-under 141.

Durant had the best round of the day, making seven birdies and an eagle with a 245-yard approach over water and sand to 10 feet on the par-5 11th.