Bezuidenhout and Svensson topped the leaderboard on eight under with four and seven holes respectively to play at TPC Sawgrass, where the threat of lightning saw the action halted at 4.27pm local time (9.27pm GMT).

Collin Morikawa and Min Woo Lee sit two strokes back in a share of third spot alongside Ben Griffin, who set the 36-hole clubhouse target at six under after a second-round 71, with Scottie Scheffler three off the pace as he chases a return to the top of the world rankings.

• The Players: Latest leaderboard
• Jon Rahm withdraws due to illness

World No 1 Jon Rahm withdrew ahead of his round due to illness and all of the afternoon starters will have to return at 7am (midday GMT) on Saturday to finish, with McIlroy five strokes outside the projected cut mark of one over with eight holes remaining.

Stormy Friday at Sawgrass

Chad Ramey led after the opening day and was still in top spot on eight under when he teed off in the afternoon wave, with none of the early starters able to get to his total, with the American briefly going three clear when he posted back-to-back birdies from the 11th.

Ramey bogeyed the 13th and saw his lead disappear when he put two balls in the water at the par-three 17th, resulting in a quadruple-bogey seven, although he holed from 30 feet to save par at the next and reach the turn two behind.

Morikawa also briefly led after following his first-round 65 by firing his approach to tap-in range at the first, only to bogey the par-five next and drop another shot at the eighth, with the two-time major champion one over for his round with seven holes to complete when play was halted.

Bezuidenhout, beginning on the 10th, took advantage of the two par-fives on the back nine and followed a birdie at the first by rolling in from eight feet at the fourth to jump into the solo lead.

The South African two-putted for par on his next hole and found himself joined on eight under when Svensson started his second nine with back-to-back birdies, with 14 players within four strokes of the lead when play resumes on Saturday.

Masters champion Scheffler - who could leapfrog Rahm as world No 1 with a top-five finish as things stand - made successive gains around the turn and will return to play his final seven holes on Saturday, with him and McIlroy playing as a two-ball after Rahm's pre-round withdrawal.

Scheffler is joined on five under by Canada's Taylor Pendrith, who has five holes to play, with Viktor Hovland and Jason Day among those heading into the weekend on four under after rounds of 71 and 70 respectively.

Will McIlroy make the weekend?

McIlroy started with four consecutive pars before failing to get up and down to save par at the fifth, then double-bogeyed the par-four sixth and fell further down the leaderboard after putting his birdie effort off the green.

The Northern Irishman - who struggled off the tee again during his front nine - responded by rolling in a 20-foot birdie at the seventh but remains on six over with eight holes to finish, with 67 players currently on the projected cut of one over.

Shane Lowry birdied two of his final three holes to salvage a second-round 69 to move to two over, which may still be enough to qualify for the final two rounds, while 2021 champion Justin Thomas is also on the same score after a second successive 73.

US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick will definitely miss the cut on three over, while the third round will be played in threesomes and off a two-tee start because of the weather delays.

Watch live coverage of The Players this weekend on Sky Sports. Coverage resumes on Saturday from midday on Sky Sports Golf, with bonus coverage live via the red button.