Players Championship: Shane Lowry hits hole-in-one as Paul Casey moves into contention

Ireland's Shane Lowry lit up the third round of the Players Championship with a stunning hole-in-one as Paul Casey put himself in contention with a bogey-free Sunday at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.

The PGA Tour's $20m flagship tournament will finish on Monday after storms wrecked the first two days.

Play will resume at 08:00 (12:00 GMT) with all 71 players left in the field to complete their third rounds.

India's Anirban Lahiri leads on nine under, with Casey two behind.

An Englishman has never won the Players, with only Sandy Lyle in 1987 and Rory McIlroy in 2019 from the UK triumphing in its 48-year history.

But Casey, who finished joint fifth last year, has put himself in prime position to challenge.

He was among those teeing off in near freezing temperatures at 08:15 as he completed a three-under 69 in round two, which included a 53-foot birdie putt on the par-three 17th 'island hole'.

He followed that with two birdies and seven pars in round three as he completed nine holes of round three before darkness ended play.

The cheers that greeted that Casey's birdie were loud, but nothing compared to Lowry's ace on the Stadium Course's signature hole, which echoed through the trees.

The 2019 Open champion let out a roar of delight before bumping chests with playing partner Ian Poulter and then high-fiving fans on his way down the footpath round the lake.

Lowry followed his perfect hole with a bogey on the 18th, but atoned for that with birdies on the first and second to end the day four off the lead on five under.

Lahiri, ranked 322 in the world, is that leader. He raced to the top of the leaderboard with five birdies in the opening nine holes of his third round and will come out on Monday morning with seven holes left to play.

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