J.J. Spaun takes the lead at The Players Championship on windy day that wrecked rounds

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — J.J. Spaun only had to look at the video boards around the TPC Sawgrass to appreciate the chaos going around him Saturday in The Players Championship.

Will Zalatoris was tied for the lead and then his name was gone after an astonishing stretch of 9-over par on the last five holes. Lucas Glover fell back, and then he was there again, and then sliding. A double bogey-eagle-double bogey stretch will do that.

So imagine Spaun's relief when his final putt on a wild, windy, round-wrecking day swirled 360 degrees around the cup and dropped for a par. He had a 2-under 70, the best score of the final 10 groups, and a one-shot lead over Bud Cauley.

Spaun made his share of mistakes, just not that many and none too egregious.

“I was hitting really good quality golf shots from tee to green and just giving myself looks and not really being in stressful situations,” Spaun said. "Keeping the ball in front of me, keeping it in the short grass for the most part. I was just trying to hit it close to pins, but only when we knew we had the right club and the right wind to do so, and if not, then we were just going to hit it to 30 feet and try to make one.

“I think that’s the key to playing in really tough conditions, especially around a course like this.”

What so many others wouldn't give for that.

Cauley, whose body was crushed in a car crash during the Memorial in 2018, took a big step toward a long recovery. He teed off two hours earlier — still facing a bulk of the wind — and finished with three birdies on his last four holes for a 66.

That put him in the final group with Spaun and Glover, whose crazy finish ended with a 71.

“It’s pretty razor thin around here anyway," Glover said. “And then you add in 25, 30 miles an hour with some gusts, it shrinks things even more. I did a good job where I was missing for the majority of the day, and there was a couple holes where you just can’t miss.”

Spaun was at 12-under 204. Glover and Alex Smalley were three back.

There was plenty of heartache, not including the five rounds in the 80s, the worst of it an 85 by Emiliano Grillo. The Argentine started the second round just five shots behind and ended 19 shots out of the lead.

Zalatoris was briefly tied for the lead when he stepped on the 14th tee. He played the final five holes in 9-over par — a quadruple bogey on the 14th, a double bogey on the 15th, a ball in the water on the 17th for double bogey and a bogey at the last. It added to a 78.

He went from tied for the lead to 10 shots behind in the span of about an hour.

Rory McIlroy made birdie on the final hole to salvage a 73 and perhaps his chances, leaving him only four shots behind.

“Most of the dropped shots were from around-the-green mistakes rather than tee-to-green,” McIlroy said. "I felt like I hit the ball pretty well, controlled my flight. Not out of it by any means The wind is supposed to still be blowing tomorrow, so yeah, it was nice to birdie that just to get one closer to J.J. on the last.”

Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler wasn't so fortunate. He was hanging around and poised to get closer until he went from the pine straw left of the par-5 16th fairway to a bunker, then another bunker under a large tree and wound up with a bogey.

He three-putted from long range for bogey on the 17th, tossing his ball into the water. He hit what he thought was a perfect wedge on the 18th only to see it roll off the back of the green. He had a 72.

A year ago, Scheffler birdied his last three holes to get within five shots and wound up winning with a 64. This time he played bogeyed two of the last three and was seven behind.

Is that too much?

"I'm not really thinking about it too much right now," he said. “I’m just a bit frustrated with the finish but hoping to come out of the gates a little bit better tomorrow and turn things around.”

The forecast was for more wind and enough rain that the PGA Tour moved up the tee times to send players off in threesomes from both sides Sunday morning.

Akshay Bhatia, who shared the 36-hole lead with Min Woo Lee, put up a good fight after a miserable start, going from a birdie on the opening hole to a bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch that sent him spiraling down the leaderboard. He shot 75 and still wound up with a chance, four shots behind. Lee shot 78.

Collin Morikawa had more of a slow bleed with eight bogeys that sent him to 77, leaving him eight shots behind.

The group at 7-under 209 included Patrick Cantlay and Danny Walker, who left Friday evening after a three-putt that looked as though it would cost him the cut. But he made it on the number, teed off first before the wind arrived and posted a 66.

Walker didn't get into the tournament until Jason Day withdrew Thursday morning. Now he's in the mix with so many others, chasing the $4.5 million prize from a $25 million purse that includes a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Lucas Glover reacts after missing a putt on the fifth hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Will Zalatoris waves after making a birdie on fifth hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Akshay Bhatia looks for his tee shot on the fifth hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Min Woo Lee hits out of a bunker on the fourth hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Rickie Fowler's golf ball is stuck in a tree along the 15th fairway during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Alex Smalley chips onto the 11th green during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

J.J. Spaun watches his tee shot on the 12th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Akshay Bhatia hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

J.J. Spaun hits his second shot on the 15th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Rory McIlroy hits out of a fairway bunker on the 15th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

J.J. Spaun watches his birdie putt on the 15th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Rory McIlroy reacts after missing his birdie putt on the 15th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Scottie Scheffler hits his approach shot on the 16th hole during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Bud Cauley looks over the 18th green during the third round of The Players Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)