The Players Championship - Third Round Preview
By TERRY LYONS
Note: The second round was suspended due to darkness at 6:36pm ET with only eight players left on the course. Those eight will resume at 7am ET Saturday.
Third-round tee times will go off the No. 1 tee in twosomes, approximately 7:55am ET to 2pm ET.
Tournament Notes
Lee Westwood leads for the second time in the last four rounds on Tour following his 54 hole performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. England’s Westwood (1st) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2nd) top the leaderboard after the second round; with 15 different international winners of The Players Championship, noting no player from England has ever won the event.
Chris Kirk (T-3) shot his career-low round at The Players with a 7-under (65), his seventh round in the 60s in his 33rd tournament round here.
Bryson DeChambeau (T-5) seeks to become the fourth player to win The Players after winning the week prior (most recent: Tiger Woods/2001 Arnold Palmer Invitational).
Five players who finished in the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational are in the top 10 after round two: Lee Westwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Chris Kirk, Bryson DeChambeau, Charley Hoffman.
Rory McIlroy becomes the first defending champion to miss the cut the following year since Rickie Fowler in 2016. Other notables to mTC included: Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Scottie Scheffler, Bubba Watson, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Webb Simpson, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, and Ricky Fowler.
Leaderboard Two Rounds (Partial)
Lee Westwood 69-66—135 (-9)
Matthew Fitzpatrick 68-68—136 (-8)
Chris Kirk 72-65—137 (-7)
Sergio Garcia 65-72—137 (-7)
Full Leaderboard: (link)
The Players - Round Three Tee Times begin at 7:55am (ET). (link)
Weather for Today: Mostly Sunny skies. High of 73. Wind E 8-12 mph. Partly cloudy skies and similar weather with 10-11 mph winds on expected Sunday.
Next Week: The Honda Classic
THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: The Players Championship
COURSE: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $15,000,000/$2,700,000
DEFENDING Champion from 2019: Rory McIlroy (2019 Leaderboard link)
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 3,375/600
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @ThePlayersChamp
TV COVERAGE: Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 - 1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.
STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Saturday (7:45am-6:00pm ET) and Sunday (7:45am-6:00pm ET), PGA Tour Live will stream Featured Holes on Saturday (3:00pm to 6:00pm ET) and Sunday from 2:30pm to 6:00pm (ET).
PGA Tour is also offering “Every Shot Live” on Saturday and Sunday from 7:50am to 6:00pm (ET).
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14: (12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.
Remember: Eastern Standard Time switches to Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday night. (clocks will “Spring Ahead” one hour).
TOURNAMENT SITE (link)
What They’re Saying:
Lee Westwood Takes Lead (GolfDigest)
Bryson the Showman (Palm Beach Post)
Another Interesting PGA Weekend Ahead (Florida Times-Union)
Jhonattan Vegas: 203 Feet of Putts (Golf Digest)
Even the Pros Struggle:
#SportsBiz, Sports Gambling and Golf Industry News
Live Odds via (PGATourCom)
What a Difference a Year Makes (GolfCom)
45 Years of Volunteering at The Players (FirstCoastNews)
On This Day in Golf History:
March 13, 2005 - Padraig Harrington, winner of 10 events worldwide, won his first PGA Tour title with a victory at The Honda Classic. Harrington took the event title with a second hole sudden death victory over Vijay Singh at the Country Club at Mirasol at Palm Beach Gardens (Courtesy of Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
While We’re Young (Ideas):
Be SURE to test drive the weekly Sunday Sports Notes Column, “While We’re Young (Ideas)” by @TerryLyons. Sent once a week for your (late) Saturday night or Early Sunday morning entertainment. You can sample and subscribe HERE
Parting Putt:
❤️ Ace ❤️:
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