The PGA Tour on Saturday had a choice. A choice that puts them in between a rock and a hard place. And it all had to do with the final day of the PLAYERS Championship. At TPC Sawgrass, JJ Spaun displayed a surprising level of consistency to retake the lead by 1 stroke. He previously held a shared spot on the leaderboard top after day 1 alongside Camillo Villegas and Lucas Glover.

The top 21 are just split by 7 strokes in total, a difference that can be easily taken care of during play. Something that the TPC Sawgrass allows you to do as long as you are laser-focused. But now, the golfers face a fresh challenge on the last day. They have to deal with a new format, all thanks to the testy weather forecast.

In what was both surprising and bizarre, the PGA Tour released a statement on Saturday evening stating that, “Due to forecasted inclement weather on Sunday afternoon, final-round tee times for THE PLAYERS Championship will run from 8 to 10:01 a.m. E.T. in threesomes off Nos. 1 and 10.”

This means that there are two changes away from the norm. One, the players are usually grouped in twos for the final rounds. Instead, for the last day of the PLAYERS, they will be grouped in threes, similar to the first two rounds. Two, the players start from the same tee for the final round, but at the TPC Sawgrass on Sunday, a few groups will start from the first tee and a few from the tenth hole of the Stadium Course.

But why the sudden change? The short answer: the weather. According to AccuWeather, Sunday has high chances of rain, as high as 90%. The rain is also expected to be long, lasting nearly one hour. The TPC Sawgrass is also expected to be windy, with 44 km/h (27 mph) wind gusts expected to be present throughout the day.

But what really turns the needle is the probability of thunderstorms. There is a high 82% chance for that to happen. There is also a Rip Current Warning given to beaches for the entirety of Sunday due to the expected bad weather. Despite the weather potentially playing spoilsport, some fans were not convinced and called out the PGA Tour for their decision.

Fans criticize the PGA Tour decision despite bad weather warnings

One user summed up what the schedule change would be like for the Tour, explaining, “Well, that’s one way to screw up a great event.” Another fan also made it clear that they were not a fan of the decision in just one word. “Boooo.”

Ardent fans were particularly miffed about the idea that some players start from different tees during the final day of the event, which could prove to give advantages for some players. Imagine walking up to the iconic 17th tee, the Island Green, with the pressure of victory on you when your competitor is taking his time on the 8th hole on the other side. “This is horrendous. Split tees for the final is a complete joke.”

Another netizen was bothered about the grouping, slamming the PGA Tour for tripling the groups instead of having them as pairs, like normal. He made his case, stating that despite the weather, that was something the PGA Tour should not have changed. “Playing in groups of 3 sucks; why don’t they ever learn regardless of the weather forecast?”

The current leaderboard is very congested, and Day 3’s proceedings made it clear that any player can go up and down just like that. The likes of Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia, who were leading at the end of day 2, found themselves scoring above par scores to drop below, while Lucas Glover, who had shared the lead on day 1, dropped after a not-so-positive performance on day 2. However, he is back in the mix and only three strokes off the lead at T3.

Therefore, day 4 would be crucial, and a format change could be the undoing of the exciting nature of the tournament, which will go against all the great action that has taken place so far. One fan stated, “Mounting any sort of comeback is going to be challenging if they’re all playing together.”

Do you think the PGA Tour did the right thing in respecting the forecast and prioritizing safety at TPC Sawgrass? Or do you think that they overreacted and thereby compromised the highly competitive PLAYERS Championship with their decision?