Players Championship final day suspended in Florida as Rory McIlroy and Co are forced to run for cover

The fourth and final round of The Players Championship was suspended on Sunday after thunderstorms struck Sawgrass.

The horn sounded around the iconic course at 1.15pm local time, with Rory McIlroy leading by a shot as he played the 12th hole.

Spectators were warned to find cover as thunder rolled into the area and the heavens opened.

'Seek safe shelter or exit the premises. Avoid open areas, hill tops, and trees,' a warning read. 

Sawgrass was baked in sun and heat over the first two days of this tournament, which is dubbed the 'fifth major' and brings the world's best players to Florida.

But 30mph winds wrought havoc during Saturday's third round before the weather took another turn on Sunday.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for areas of northeast Florida that includes TPC Sawgrass. 

There were warnings of a 'a broken line of severe storms with damaging potential of 50-70 mph and isolated tornadoes possible'.

By Sunday afternoon, at least 36 people had died after brutal tornadoes tore through several south-eastern states of the USA.

The PGA Tour adjusted their schedule in a bid to minimize the weather disruption, amid fears of 'severe storms and heavy winds'.

Players were bunched into threesomes, rather than groups of two, with the leaders starting their rounds at 10:01am - more than four hours earlier than on Saturday.

Rain started to fall shortly after 11am but the players didn't evacuate the course for another couple of hours - when thunder could be heard around Sawgrass.

By then, McIlroy was 12-under-par and one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard. The Northern Irishman was four-under-par over the first 11 holes on Sunday.

Overnight leader JJ Spaun was one shot back, with a group of three players including Akshay Bhatia on 10-under-par.