Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia share lead at The Players as Justin Thomas ties course mark with 62

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia shared the lead at The Players Championship going into a weekend with strong wind in the forecast and the potential for a wide-open chase. That includes Justin Thomas, the biggest surprise Friday.

Thomas opened with a 78 and was tied for 134th when he set the tournament record with 11 birdies. A bogey from the water on the 18th hole forced him to settle for a 10-under 62 to tie The Players record with Tom Hoge.

“Everything seems to happen in mysterious and weird ways,” Thomas said, unclear if he was speaking to his round or the very game of golf.

Lee made a sloppy bogey on his final hole at the par-5 ninth. Bhatia got creative with a wedge to make birdie on the ninth. Both had a 66 and were tied for the lead at 11-under 133.

Thomas was seven shots behind and not the least bit bothered by the deficit.

“I'm happy I have a tee time tomorrow," Thomas said. “I was losing to everyone playing golf at one point.”

Thomas witnessed the only other 62 at the TPC Sawgrass because he was playing with Hoge that day in 2023. He forgot about that until he saw an image posted on the video board behind the 17th green of him and Hoge hugging.

From the right rough on the 18th, the plan was to punch it low under the trees to about 20 yards short of the green. But the thick grass grabbed his club and turned it left, and the ball raced through the fairway into the water.

Thomas took a penalty drop, hit a lob wedge to 2 feet for bogey and at least shared the mark.

He has had some wild swings in scores on consecutive days, recalling the 67-80 he had at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 British Open.

“This one is a lot cooler,” he said.

Now comes the hard part. The TPC Sawgrass can be daunting in any conditions, but the 25 mph gusts expected Saturday — and the possibility of wind and rain Sunday — can make the Stadium Course a real thrill ride.

J.J. Spaun had a 68 and was one shot behind.

Rory McIlroy was at the top of the leaderboard during his morning round that featured six birdies in 11 holes, only for his momentum to stall. He had a pair of bogeys over the closing stretch, the last one on the par-5 ninth, for a 68 to finish two shots back.

“I think I hit more fairways in six holes today than I did in 18 yesterday,” McIlroy said. “Got it in play much better and then from there was able to give myself some opportunities and obviously make some birdies early. Couldn’t quite continue that on to the back nine, but it was much better off the tee.”

Collin Morikawa, the runner-up last week at Bay Hill who chipped in twice among his nine birdies in a round of 65, also was shots behind with Alex Smalley, who birdied two of his last three holes for a 67.

“I can’t say I drove it great and hit the ball amazing, but I really just took advantage of when I did hit good shots,” Morikawa said. “I putted really nicely. Also I didn’t try fighting it too much. I knew it wasn’t quite exactly how I was hitting it, and you just make due.”

Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a 70 and was six shots behind, still very much in the mix considering he rallied from five behind on the final day last year.

The 36-hole cut fluctuated throughout the afternoon with some wild shifts and plenty of emotion. The cut was 1-under 143.

Xander Schauffele made it on the number, extending his cut streak to 59 on the PGA Tour, the longest active streak since Tiger Woods (142) from 1998 to 2005.

That required the PGA and British Open champion hammering a hybrid onto the green at the ninth on his final hole and two-putting for birdie and a 71. That sounded like small consolation for Schauffele, who only returned last week from two months of letting a rib injury heal.

“Not hitting it close enough, to duffing chips, to missing every fairway, to hitting fairways, to missing greens. It’s pretty gross, to be completely honest,” he said. “So if I can eke out this cut, that would be nice. But the game feels pretty bad.”

Danny Walker also gets a weekend tee time after starting the week wondering if he would play at all. He didn't get into the field until Thursday morning when Jason Day withdrew with an illness. One of 26 newcomers in the field, Walker three-putted the final hole to finish at 1 under and had to wait an hour to see if he would make it.

Among those missing the cut were Ludvig Aberg, who won the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines last month and is No. 5 in the world. He had five double bogeys over two rounds, three of them Friday.

Jordan Spieth had another wild ride, which included hitting one shot left-handed out of the pine straw well left of the fifth fairway. Spieth was on the cut line late in the day when he hit the island green at No. 17 and then drilled a drive down the 18th fairway, leading to birdie and a 71 that put him eight shots back.

Divots: Wyndham Clark withdrew after nine holes with a neck injury. ... Six PGA Tour winners this year failed to make the cut, including Hideki Matsuyama.

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

Justin Thomas hits his second shot on the 18th hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Justin Thomas celebrates after making a birdie on the 17th hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Justin Thomas, right, shakes hands with his caddie Matt Minister on the 18th green after shooting a 62, tying the course record, during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Justin Thomas celebrates after making a birdie on the 17th hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Xander Schauffele hits an approach shot to the second green during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Collin Morikawa removes his cap after making a birdie on the ninth hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Collin Morikawa lines up a birdie putt on the ninth hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Scottie Scheffler walks off the third tee during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Scottie Scheffler watches his tee shot on the third hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Akshay Bhatia watches his approach shot to the ninth green during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Rory McIlroy watches his tee shot on the third hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Min Woo Lee leaves his shot in the bunker on the ninth hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Min Woo Lee yells after hitting his second shot on the ninth hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's populist prime minister on Saturday vowed to rid his country of those he claims work for the interests of foreign powers, saying his right-wing government will eliminate a global “shadow army” serving the European Union and a “liberal American empire.”

In a conspiracy theory-laden address, which coincided with a national holiday commemorating Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule, Viktor Orbán told a group of several thousand select supporters that Hungary in the coming weeks will uproot media outlets and other organizations that have received funding from abroad, comparing such groups to insects.

“After today’s festive gathering comes the Easter cleaning. The bugs have overwintered," Orbán said. “We will dismantle the financial machine that has used corrupt dollars to buy politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-NGOs and political activists. We will eliminate the entire shadow army.”

Orbán, in power since 2010, has used the March 15 celebration in recent years as a podium from which to launch increasingly hostile harangues against the EU, to which Hungary has belonged since 2004. He has often compared the bloc to the Soviet Union, which occupied and repressed Hungary for nearly five decades in the 20th century, and pledged to “occupy” the halls of power in Europe.

Now, after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Hungarian leader has accelerated his longstanding efforts to crack down on critics such as media outlets, civil rights and anti-corruption groups, which he says have undermined Hungary's sovereignty by receiving financial assistance from international donors.

Orbán, a Trump ally, has applauded the U.S. administration’s actions to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, claiming, with no evidence, that it was used to fund liberal causes in Hungary aimed at toppling his government.

He has promised a reckoning for groups that have benefited from funding by USAID, saying they would be eliminated in Hungary and face “legal consequences.”

This week, Orbán's Fidesz party proposed amendments to Hungary's constitution that would allow for Hungarian dual citizens to have their citizenship suspended and be deported from the country if they are deemed to threaten Hungary’s sovereignty or national security.

Another amendment appeared to target the LGBTQ+ community. Orbán's party has said the annual Budapest Pride event would be banned in public starting this year.

On Saturday, Orbán, a firm opponent of immigration, echoed the conspiratorial “great replacement theory,” which suggests there is a global plot to diminish the influence of white people.

"The battle today is actually being fought for the soul of the Western world," Orbán said. “The empire wants to mix and then replace the indigenous people of Europe with invading masses arriving from foreign civilizations.”

He also claimed “the empire” that has provided economic and military assistance to Ukraine as it fights off Russia's invasion in fact seeks to “colonize” the embattled country.

“The instrument of colonization is war. The rulers of Europe decided that Ukraine should continue the war, whatever it costs,” he said.

He repeated his call for the EU to abandon the process of eventually bringing Ukraine into the bloc, and said he would issue a poll for Hungarians on decide whether they think Kyiv should gain EU membership.

Later on Saturday, Hungary's upstart Tisza party planned to hold a mass demonstration in Budapest, rallying around its leader and potential Orbán challenger Péter Magyar.

Magyar, a former Fidesz insider that has split with Orbán, has in the last year built an opposition movement that aims to defeat the Hungarian leader in national elections scheduled for next year, and has focused on Hungary's cost-of-living crisis and what he says is deep-seated corruption among ruling party elites.

Recent polls show Tisza neck and neck or even several points ahead of Fidesz with around a year to go before elections.

Mounted hussars ride during celebrations marking the 177th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution and war of independence against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)