Darren Clarke’s Players Championship looks to be over after he added a further dropped shot to his positively underwhelming 76 in the first round.
Clarke, who finished his first round at Sawgrass this morning after play was suspended due to failing light late yesterday evening, knew he would require a score of 70 at worst to guarantee his participation over the weekend.
But having signed for his 76, the Tyroneman was back on the course shortly afterwards and faring little better.
In trying conditions - the wind has freshened considerably at the Ponte Vedra Beach venue - three bogeys were tempered by two birdies but after ten holes played, Clarke - at five over - will need a superhuman effort to make the cut, currently projected at one over.
With just eight holes to spare his blushes, the odds are stacked against Clarke who enjoyed his best finish in this event last year (tied for 26th).
Meanwhile, Nick Faldo, with only one sub-70 round at the Players Championship in the past seven years, appeared to have messed up the chance of two in one day at Sawgrass today.
Faldo's unexpected challenge for golf's unofficial fifth major came unstuck when he had a double bogey at the 10th hole of his second round, actually the 392-yard first, and followed it with a bogey six.
Having climbed into a share of second place, the 44-year-old's errors dropped him to 11th, but with the man at the top being the surprise figure of Carl Paulson, a 31-year-old without a single US Tour victory to his name and ranked 181st in the world, there was still all to play for.
More worrying for the whole field perhaps was that defending champion Tiger Woods, after a quiet start, had just had back-to-back birdies and was alongside Faldo on two under par.
Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, with opening rounds of 70 and 75 respectively, have yet to tee off their second rounds and are unlikely to complete their loops before nightfall.