PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tom Hoge was about 90 minutes removed from completing a 6-under 66 Thursday in the opening round of The Players Championship when he was relaxing with his family over tacos at TacoLu, one of the most popular restaurants in Jacksonville Beach. 

Hoge was one of the fortunate ones. He had an early tee time and got his entire round in, unlike more than two-thirds of the field. 

After the weather wreaked havoc on Thursday’s play, with more than four hours of suspended play and more rain on the way, Hoge said he was quite certain he wouldn’t play a single hole on Friday. 

He was right. Play was suspended for the day at 11:15 a.m. Friday, leaving 47 players on the course who have not completed their respective first rounds. 

Hoge then said he “hoped” he doesn’t strike another competitive shot until Sunday, because more rain, thunderstorms and 30-mph winds are in the forecast for Saturday. 

The Players Championship is fighting a race against time and it’s losing. 

Gary Young, the chief referee of The Players Championship, said Friday that the first round is expected to resume no earlier than 11 a.m. Saturday. 

“We are very confident at this point [that] we’re into a Monday finish,” Young said. “If our calculations on everything hold together and we’re able to start [Saturday], we certainly expect to be finished with the championship on Monday.” 

The Players has had seven Monday finishes in its 48-year history, most recently in 2005. 

Young said the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course took on about three inches of rain in the past two days. 

“The golf course has just reached a point of saturation, and unfortunately the weather conditions are not providing us any relief,” Young said. “Our plan is to resume play [Saturday], no earlier than 11:00 a.m. That would be the earliest.” 

Young said Saturday’s forecast is calling for “severe winds [and] lightning associated with it” on Saturday morning, adding, “Our desire is to not have anyone on the property prior to that. Right now, we’ve messaged our players 11:00 a.m., no earlier, and that’s the plan.’ ” 

At the time of the suspension Friday morning, Tommy Fleetwood and Hoge, both of whom completed their respective first rounds Thursday thanks to early tee times, were still leading at 6-under. Brice Garnett is also 6-under, but was through 13 holes of his opening round. 

Garnett, in fact, had just holed out for eagle on No. 4 (his 13th hole) moments before the horn sounded to clear everyone off the course. 

“I think we had about 96 yards and we just took a bunch of spin and speed off of a sand wedge,” Garnett said of his shot. “My caddie said, ‘Just land it a little past and right.’ I actually thought I missed it, but I looked back up and [the ball] disappeared. It was a great surprise. It’s been a while since I’ve done that. Great moment for us.” 

It was one of too few great moments on the course Friday. 

Keith Mitchell, Joaquin Niemann, Kramer Hickok and Anirban Lahiri, all of whom completed their first rounds Thursday, are 5-under. So, too, is Daniel Berger, who was 5-under through 16 holes Friday. 

“We got some golf in,” Justin Rose, who’s 2-under through 14 holes, said. “Waking up this morning, [I] wasn’t quite sure what to expect with the forecast, but conditions were relatively playable for most of the round. There were a couple heavy downpours. It does make it difficult out there for sure. It’s a shame to not finish up at least one round in the books, and now it’s just a bit of a waiting game.”