Reporting from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — The course record at TPC Sawgrass nearly fell again — twice, actually.
A day after Jason Day became the fifth player to record a nine-under par 63 at the Players Championship, journeyman Colt Knost stood on the 18th green at 10 under for his round, a two-putt away from a 62.
A little later, world No. 3 Rory McIlroy needed to birdie the par-five ninth — his final hole of Friday’s second round — to reach 10-under himself.
Neither player would make history.
Knost three-putted, lipping out from five feet for par, to settle for share of the record and a nice bounce-back from an opening 72.
“I was a little nervous over the second one,” the 30-year-old Texan allowed. “I knew what it was for.”
McIlroy had 62 on his radar too. But the four-time major champion, incredibly, took four shots to get up and down from 90 yards to finish with a bogey and a 64 a day after he also finished even par.
“I would have been nice to shoot 62,” said a surprisingly morose McIlroy, who enters the weekend eight under and six shots behind leader Day. “I’m disappointed, but there’s still two more days to go.”
The way things went the first two days the world’s best players will have two more cracks at a record that has stood since Fred Couples set it in 1992.
Whether anyone can catch Day is another question.
The world’s top-ranked player extended his lead to three shots with four holes remaining in his second round. A two-hour weather delay will force Day and 32 other players to return Saturday and tee off at 9:15 a.m. local time.
Day will face a 107-yard approach on the par-four 15th hole. He then will play one of the most exciting and demanding three-hole stretches in golf — the reachable par-five 16th, the par-three 17th island hole and daunting par-four 18th hole, the third-most difficult this week at TPC Sawgrass.
“I feel good about how I’m going about my game,” Day said. “But I just got to understand this is like a major, and especially with 16, 17 and 18 anything can happen there. I got to make sure that I’m switched on when I come through that stretch.”
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Jason Day of Australia plays a shot on the 15th hole Sunday during the final round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
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Jason Day takes a big divot while playing a shot at No. 14 on Sunday during the final round of the Players Championship.
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Jason Day acknowledges the cheers from spectators on the 13th green during the final round of the Players Championship on Sunday.
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American Matt Kuchar lines up his putt on the 16th green during the final round of the Players Championship on Sunday.
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Hideki Matsuyama of Japan hits his tee shot at No. 8 during the final round of the Players Championship on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
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Colt Knost of the United States reacts after almost making a chip on the second hole Sunday during the final round of the Players Championship.
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American Kevin Chappell hits his tee shot at No. 5 on Sunday during the final round of the Players Championship.
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Jason Day hits his tee shot at No. 8 on Sunday during the final round of the Players Championship.
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Justin Thomas of the United States acknowledges the gallery after finishing his round of seven-under 65 on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
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Alex Cejka of Germany reacts to his birdie on the 17th green during the third round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off at No. 17 during the third round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
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Jason Day lines up a putt at the ninth hole on Saturday during the third round of the Players Championship.
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Jason Day of Australia hits from a sand trap at the eighth hole during the third round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
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Kevin Chappell reacts after missing a putt during the Players Championship, where he finished second. (Scott Halleran / Getty Images)
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Russell Knox of Scotland kept his humor at the par-three 17th hole, the famous island green, where he raised his arms triumphantly after making a putt to score nine. He put four shots in the water.
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Hideki Matsuyama of Japan chips onto the 16th green during the third round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
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Ryan Palmer of the United States hits from a greenside sand trap at No. 2 during the third round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
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Ken Duke of the United States lines up a putt for birdie on the ninth green during the third round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
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Jonas Blixt of Sweden tees off at No. 10 during the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Friday.
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American Jordan Spieth hits his tee shot at No. 3 on Friday during the second round of the Players Championship.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland watches his chip shot bounce on the ninth green during the second round of the Players Championship on Friday.
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Phil Mickelson follows his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Players Championship on Friday.
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Charley Hoffman of the United States tees off at No. 9 at TPC Sawgrass on Friday during the second round of the Players Championship.
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American Cameron Tringale hits from a sand trap at the eighth green on Friday during the second round of the Players Championship.
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Alex Cejka of Germany reacts after missing a birdie putt at No. 6 on Friday during the second round of the Players Championship.
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American Davis Love III putts from the edge of the 17th island green during the second round of the Players Championship on Friday.
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Jason Day of Australia hits his tee shot at No. 11 during the second round of the Players Championship on Friday at TPC Sawgrass.
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Justin Rose of England hits from a fairway sand trap on the second hole Friday during the second round of the Players Championship.
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In this black-and-white image, Henrik Stenson of Sweden hits his tee shot at No. 6 on Friday during the second round of the Players Championship.
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Danny Lee of New Zealand follows through on his tee shot at No. 11 during the second round of the Players Championship on Friday at TPC Sawgrass.
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Jason Day of Australia plays his shot from the 17th tee to the island green during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
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Jason Day acknowledges the fans at the ninth green during the first round of the Players Championships on Thursday, when he would tie the course record with a 63.
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Shane Lowry of Ireland shakes hands with caddie John McLaren after shooting a seven-under 65 during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday.
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Justin Rose of England bounces the golf ball with his driver as he wait to tee off at No. 11 on Thursday during the first round of the Players Championship. Rose shot a seven-under 65.
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American Dustin Johnson hits from a sand trap alongside the ninth green during the first round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday. Johnson shot a two-under 70.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays from a hillside during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday. McIlroy would finish at even-par 72.
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American Jordan Spieth drops his club on his follow through after teeeing off at No. 9 on Thursday during the first round of the Players Championship.
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American Rickie Fowler prepares to chip from off the 17th green during the first round of the Players Champioship on Thursday. The defending champion finished at even-par 72.
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Rory McIlroy follows through on his tee shot at No. 15 during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.
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Sergio Garcia of Spain tees off at No. 9 during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday, when he shot an even-par 72.
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Bubba Watson of the United States watches his tee shot at No. 15 during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday. Watson would finish at three-under 69.
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Jason Day plays a shot from a bunker at the 11th hole during the first round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday.
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Rory McIlroy tees off at No. 11 on Thursday during the first round of the Players Championship.
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Shane Lowry hits his approach shot at No. 4 on Thursday during the first round of the Players Championship.
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Dustin Johnson plays a shot from the fairway during the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday.
(Sam Greenwood / Getty Images) Day leads Irishman Shane Lowry by three shots, is four clear of a trio of players at 10 under and five ahead of a half-dozen players at nine under, including 49-year-old Jerry Kelly.
Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson are both at one under with a few holes to play and in danger of missing the cut, currently at two under.
Though TPC Sawgrass has been a pussycat through 36 holes, Kelly has been around long enough to know Pete Dye’s tricky design should bare its fangs during the final two rounds.
“I just really like the way I’m striking it,” said Kelly, who has missed only four of 36 greens. “I know the greens are going to get tougher for the weekend. They’re going to suck the moisture out of the them and make it tougher for us to hit that many greens.”
High temperatures, higher winds, no rain and tougher pin placements should coalesce for tougher scoring conditions for the leaders, who will tee off in the afternoon.
“The course really does play so much differently from morning to afternoon,” McIlroy said.
Day, Knost and McIlroy’s bids for 62 each occurred during the morning wave, when the wind was down and the greens were soft after maintenance crews watered the putting surfaces to combat temperatures in the 80s.
Knost hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed only one putt longer than 16 feet — a 22-footer on No. 14 — for any of his 10 birdies.
“It’s definitely softer than we thought it would be, for sure,” he said.
Meanwhile, McIlroy needed only 22 putts. This included 11 as he carded a seven-under 29 on the back nine to tie the day-old record set by Lowry.
If the red-hot scoring pace continues, TPC Sawgrass could yield its lowest winning score since the tournament moved from March to May in 2007. 2010 winner Tim Clark finished 14-under 276 total, but the average winning score has been 12 under.
Day sits at 14-under with 40 holes to go.
“A lot of great players here,” said Cameron Tringale, one of those at 10 under. “You never know what will happen.”
egthompson@tribune.com
