The Players Championship - Final Round Preview

By TERRY LYONS

Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau will play today’s final group together for the second consecutive week. In the Shotlink era, the only other time this has happened in consecutive stroke-play events was Adam Scott and Vijay Singh (2006 TOUR Championship, 2007 Sentry Tournament of Champions)

Tournament Notes

Lee Westwood is seeking to win in his 15th start at THE PLAYERS, which would match the most prior starts by a first-time winner in tournament history. Westwood would also become the tournament’s second-oldest winner (age on Sunday: 47 years, 10 months, 18 days).

In 2005, Fred Funk won THE PLAYERS at the age of 48 years, 9 months and 14 days,

Westwood owns 42 worldwide victories (most recent: 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA) and two PGA TOUR titles: 1998 Zurich Classic of New Orleans; 2010 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Bryson DeChambeau, (2nd, at -11) and the FedExCup leader, made a 12-foot putt for par on the 18th to remain at 11-under; posts a 5-under 67, matching his tournament-low score (2018/R-2). He went 30 consecutive holes without a bogey before making bogey on the par-4 14th hole.

Justin Thomas recorded the tournament-low round with an 8-under (64), his sixth round in the 60s at THE PLAYERS in 22nd round. His Saturday round marked the seventh time Thomas made four or more consecutive birdies to start a round on Tour. It was the second time he did so at THE PLAYERS (2015/R-3).

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Leaderboard After Three Rounds

Lee Westwood 69-66-68—203 (-13)

Bryson DeChambeau 69-69-67—205 (-11)

Justin Thomas 71-71-64—206 (-10)

Doug Ghim 71-67-68—206 (-10)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

THE PLAYERS - Final Round Tee Times begin at 7:50am EDT (link) when Scott Harrington will tee-it-up by his lonesome. The leaders head out at 1:50pm EDT.

Weather for Today: Partly cloudy skies with 10-11 mph winds expected Sunday.

The Week Ahead on Tour: 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: Sunday, March 14 - 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on NBC.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Sunday (7:45am-6:00pm EDT), PGA Tour Live will stream Featured Holes on Sunday from 2:30pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA Tour is also offering “Every Shot Live” on Saturday and Sunday from 7:50am to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Sunday, March 14: (12:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

Remember: Eastern Standard Time switched to Eastern Daylight Time overnight. (Clocks “Spring Ahead” one hour).

TOURNAMENT SITE (link)

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What They’re Saying:

At 47, Lee Westwood has a Chance for Biggest Win (ESPN)

Westwood, DeChambeau Reprise Regular Game (PGATourCom)

Westwood Stays the Course (Golf Week/USA Today)

The PLAYERS favors no one, so anyone can win this weekend (ESPN)

PLAYERS Round Three Review (PGATourCom)

Chasing Distance has Hurt McIlroy’s Swing (PGATourCom)

Two Golfers with Aces, “Could Get Expensive.” (CNN)

#SportsBiz, Sports Gambling and Golf Industry News

World No. 1 Johnson will NOT play in Tokyo (Golf Week/USA Today)

As Pandemic Recedes Some Tournaments Whacked Again (Golf Week/USA Today)

Northeast Florida Vendors Feel the Love from Consumers (Jax Business Journal)

Greg Norman Named Lead Analyst for The Masters by Sirius/XM (PR Newswire)

On This Day in Golf History:

March 14, 1993 - Despite admitting, “I choked like a dog coming in,” Freddie Couples hung on to win The Honda Classic at Weston Hills (Florida), winning after the second hole of his Playoff against Robert Gamez. Couples led by four strokes with eight holes to go in the final round but finished his round with two birdies, two pars, three bogeys and one double-bogey. Couples rebounded after the tough stretch and won his 10th PGA Tour title. (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:

PGA TOUR @PGATOUR

All of the best, and worst, from No. 17 on Saturday. ⛳️

March 14th 2021

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