It looked as if Spieth was going to join a list of high-profile players, including Rory McIlroy and US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, in missing the 36-hole cut, which fell at two-over.

Only, Spieth’s drive ricocheted off a fan’s knee and landed back into the fairway. Then, Spieth muscled a fairway metal from 272 yards up to the rough just right of the green. He chipped in for eagle, made the cut easily(*) at even par. Now he’s six-under courtesy of a third-round 66.

What are the odds?! @JordanSpieth’s tee shot was heading into the water before his ball hit a fan and ricocheted back in the fairway.

It likely would have made the difference in Spieth making the cut @THEPLAYERSChamp. https://t.co/W3dqAnl30I pic.twitter.com/IRiHzRS30N

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2023

“I got an extremely lucky break on 9, or I wouldn’t be playing the weekend,” Spieth said Friday. “Trying to get that guy’s information and see literally whatever he wants this weekend because everything from here on out is because it hit him.”

Turns out “that guy” is Lt Col Matt Cutler, a 47-year-old Marine from Colorado Springs. He’s performed tours in Japan, Germany and multiple tours of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The PGA Tour approached Cutler and offered him tickets for the third round.

Jordan Spieth gifted the fan and his friends tickets for the weekend, plus a signed flag.

Matt is a 23-year marine from Colorado Springs. https://t.co/vyh99Lwget pic.twitter.com/8RrfCF1GCy

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 11, 2023

“He’s over there right now,” Spieth said on Saturday pointing to Cutler. “He’s an active Marine. His name is Matt. I spent a little time with him yesterday. He didn’t want anything, but I thought if I could do anything for him I’d try to and the tour stepped in and hooked him up, too. So hopefully he’s having a good weekend. And his knee, I mean, once I found out he was an active Marine I don’t really think getting hit in the knee really does much to those guys.”

Other than the personal pride of wanting to make the cut at the tour’s flagship event, the good break is significant financially for Spieth given the Players Championship purse this year is $25 million. If Spieth were to hold his current position of T-14 through the final round his earnings would be around $400,000.

It’s safe to say Cutler’s knee contributed to keeping one of the biggest stars around for the weekend.

“I would like to say once the cut moved to two over I felt like I could have still finagled my way through,” Spieth said. “It’s still two shots that it saved me at least. That will make a difference regardless tomorrow.”

The post Meet the Marine who saved Jordan Spieth’s weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Led by Tom Hoge, who lit up the joint for a course-record 10-under-par 62, the 75 gentlemen who made the cut earlier in the day strolled around the property on a temperate afternoon like they owned it. OK, technically, they do. But on this day, they owned it.

With the greens softened by the overnight rain and the winds barely an annoyance, the boys posted a collective scoring average of 69.573, the lowest single-day mark in tournament history. In fact, it was the first time any round had dipped below 70, and it was more than four strokes lower than this week’s second-round average of 73.797.

No surprise that one of the primary plunderers was world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, who has proven to be quite comfortable on a leaderboard and finds himself atop another one after seven-under 65. A 10-foot birdie putt on 18, combined with a three-putt bogey by Players rookie Min Woo Lee a few minutes earlier, enabled the talented Texan to forge a two-stroke lead through 54 holes at 14-under.

Lee, who began his third round with a hole-out eagle at the par-4 first from 112 yards — because nearly everybody tried to be a show-off on the nearly defenceless Pete Dye design — was hardly crestfallen by his lone scorecard blemish. A 66 left him at 204, two better than fellow Aussie Cam Davis, who had a 67.

Another stroke back were four players, including Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai, who also ran up the leaderboard with 65s. Rai, another first-timer in this $25 million championship, followed a birdie at 16 by scoring the second ace of the week at 17, and then birdied 18. It was the first time any player posted 4-1-3 on the final three holes.

They were joined by first-round leader Chad Ramey, another first-timer, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout after 68 and 69, respectively.

Scheffler, 26, the reigning Masters champion, jumped on the hole-out bandwagon by flopping a wedge from the heavy rough left of the par-5 second green and watched the 62-footer go down for eagle, much to the chagrin of his caddie, Ted Scott. Read that sentence again. Apparently, they have a bet of sorts between them, so when Scheffler holes out, it’s a win-win.

“Teddy and I got a year-long thing going that I just beat him on, and he owes me something, but he didn’t have any of it, and so he owes me,” Scheffler said. “It’s an IOU from Teddy. It’s just something he came up with that was just fun. Probably more fun for me than it is to him. He occasionally cheers for one to not go in, if that makes any difference.”

With a $4.5 million first prize, we’re thinking Scott will get over it if he receives the standard 10 per cent caddie take.

Scheffler is the indisputable favourite heading into Sunday’s final round. He’s kind of used to this winning thing the last 13 months, securing five tour titles, and the last time he finished outside the top 15 was in October at the CJ Cup in South Carolina. He is 2-for-6 in converting a 54-hole lead into victory.

“I’m always hopeful to play well. I prepare to be in these moments. I prepare to come out here and play well,” he said. “I’ve been on a lot of leaderboards, and I’ve said it a few times, it’s a lot of more fun being in the lead than it is being in 20th going into today and shooting two under and finishing 30th or whatever it is. It’s a lot more fun being in the arena and being in the moment.”

Min Woo Lee. Logan Bowles

Lee, 24, has a pair of DP World Tour wins, but this is by far his best chance for what would be a life-changing victory. Ranked 50th in the world, which qualified him for the championship, the diminutive Australian, a “proper player” in the words of Fleetwood, doesn’t feel like the moment will be too big for him.

“Yeah, tomorrow could be the biggest day of my life, but I’m going to go out there and have fun again,” said Lee, whose sister, Minjee Lee, is a two-time major winner on the LPGA. “It’s been the motto for the last three months. Not taking it too seriously. I’m just out here enjoying my time. … I just crept into this tournament and making the most of it and soaking it all in. It’s going to be a challenge.”

Oh, he can count on that. And so can his golfing brethren. As gettable as the Stadium Course was on Saturday, an encore isn’t likely on Sunday.

In fact, write it down. That ain’t happening.

The forecast for the final round of the PGA Tour’s flagship event calls for sunny skies, warmer temperatures and winds freshening to at least 20 miles per hour by afternoon. Throw in a dash of set-up retribution and we’re likely to witness a final round replete with all manner of comeuppance.

“You never know around this golf course,” rookie Taylor Montgomery said after a 66, obviously having watched enough editions of the Players on television to know the honour of the late Pete Dye might come to bear on the proceedings. “Who knows, they might turn on the sub-air and roll the greens a couple times, [and] they could be back to the way they were round one and two.”

“This course has a lot of difficult holes, so I’m not expecting it to be as good as today,” said Sungjae Im, who is six behind Scheffler after a 64. “I’m not taking it for granted.”

Smart man.

Somewhere, Pete Dye is rooting for another white-knuckle finish.

The post Scheffler and Co shatter records at Sawgrass, but expect final round to be a different story appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

McIlroy never looked like himself over two rounds and two-plus days at TPC Sawgrass, offering what he termed a “blah” effort in the tour’s flagship event. After completing a one-over 73 with a slap-dash bogey on the 18th hole on a sunny but chilly Saturday morning, the outspoken Irishman was dismissed from the $25 million event with a five-over 149 total, his third worst 36-hole performance in 13 starts on the Stadium Course.

“Yeah, just very blah. Yeah, I guess the course, you just have to be really on to play well here,” said the 2019 champion. “If you’re a little off, it definitely magnifies where you are off. It’s a bit of an enigma. Some years I come here, and like it feels easier than others. It’s just a tricky golf course, and you don’t hit fairways and you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Sporting a fresh haircut — not a good one — and tired eyes, McIlroy missed the cut here for the sixth time, and although he can talk about being hampered with a misbehaving driver that he replaced a few weeks ago at the Genesis Invitational, his struggles came on and around the greens, proof that his fine motor skills were misfiring. He lost 4.268 strokes around the greens (ranking 141st in the 144-man field) and a bit more than three strokes putting.

He was given an out by being asked if the imposition on his time the last eight months or so — some of his own volition and some as the de facto leader among the player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board — might be catching up to him. He has stepped up to be the face of the tour loyalists, not always easy and not always well received. He’s been leading the counter-offensive against the LIV Golf League.

“Yeah, it’s fair,” McIlroy said. “I’d love to get back to being a golfer. Look, it’s been a busy couple of weeks, and it’s been, honestly … a busy sort of six or eight months. But as I said at the start of the week, everything has sort of been announced now, and the wheels have been put in motion, so it should obviously quieten down from here.”

He’s referring to the tour’s new scheduling initiative starting in 2024 that was introduced on Tuesday by commissioner Jay Monahan. Details remain to be settled, including which four events will be locked in as designated tournaments, but the hard part, he suggested, is behind him.

“It’s just the time management. The golf out here, that’s fine, but it’s just more the time at home to make sure you’re getting prepared, to make sure that you’re doing everything you can to be ready once you show up to these weeks,” said McIlroy, who had arrived at the Players after a T-2 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “That’s where I’ve maybe sacrificed a little bit of time with some of this other stuff. As I said, I’m ready to get back to being purely a golfer.”

His next start comes in two weeks at the final WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which he skipped last year in favour of playing the Valero Texas Open, the event preceding the Masters. He missed the cut at Valero and then finished T-2 at Augusta National Golf Club thanks to a final-round 64.

The matchplay, in Austin, Texas, will be just his fourth start of the year. All have been in the tour’s elevated big-purse events. If he’s a bit tired, it’s not from too much golf.

The post Weight of off-the-course business sinks Rory McIlroy at Players Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The No. 1 player in the world was announced as a late withdrawal ahead of his second-round tee time on Friday at TPC Sawgrass. The PGA Tour announced that Rahm dropped out due to an unspecified stomach illness.

Rahm was part of the super-pairing with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. Rahm turned in an uneven performance on Thursday but still managed to post a one-under 71.

Rahm had entered TPC Sawgrass on a heater, winning three times and finishing T7 or better in six of seven starts this season. He is ranked first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained/total and scoring. A victory this week would have given Rahm the most wins this early in a tour year since Jack Burke Jr in 1952.

It is unlikely that Rahm will play in next week’s Valspar Championship. Rahm’s next scheduled appearance will come at the WGC-Dell Match Play in two weeks.

The post Jon Rahm forced to withdraw from Players Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The tech wizards at the PGA Tour took ball-tracking to the next level at The Players Championship by combining a video showing the path of every tee shot on TPC Sawgrass’ (in?)famous 17th hole from the first round. Every. Single. Shot. And it is a thing of mesmerising beauty.

Take a look. It even includes the stinkers and sinkers on the ‘island’ par-3 hole:

Every single tee shot at No. 17 from Round 1 @THEPLAYERSChamp ? pic.twitter.com/RlaHObL5j4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2023

I know, I had to watch it over and over, too!

The post This graphic for the 17th hole at Sawgrass is the coolest thing you will see today appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.—The question was direct because a softball would not suffice. It was early in the week and Anirban Lahiri was asked what keeps him going through the struggle. Make no mistake, struggle is inherent in this magnificently difficult sport, but Lahiri had been especially riding it hard as of late, entering this Players Championship 209th in the FedEx Cup and No. 322 in the world ranking. If those numbers sound high, well, they are, considering 144 players were in the field. Yet to play at this level, to make this game a profession requires tapping into a current powered by conviction and faith when the results say otherwise.

“The beauty about what we do,” Lahiri explained, “is that you’re one week away from being a PGA Tour winner. You’re one week away from being at Augusta. You’re one week away from having a two-, three-year exemption. You’re one week away from you having a different kind of conversation with me.”

That was Tuesday. It is Sunday. Lahiri is one day from a different conversation.

A 67-73 start and a five-under performance through 11 holes of Round 3 has Lahiri atop the leader board of this weather-wrecked Players Championship.

“It’s been great,” Lahiri said Sunday night. “Obviously nice to catch the good side of the draw to start. Yeah, I think to be honest, going to bed last night I was a bit scared how cold it was going to be. I’m not used to playing temperatures sub-40, and I did struggle a little bit when I came out. But it was nice to just get back into a good process and a good rhythm. Made a lot of good swings today, just kept it in front of me, made good decisions.”

The man did make some good passes. The approach game has been the bane of his existence (212th in SG/approach, 205th in greens in regulation) this year; this week, Lahiri and his irons are tuned to the same channel, ranking fourth in approach and T-6 in proximity. He’s racked up 11 birdies and two eagles and just as importantly is keeping the big numbers at bay. There hasn’t been a swing tip or equipment change, just a change of attitude.

“I’m just happy that I’m playing well. I’m just happy that I’m hitting my irons well. I’m just happy,” Lahiri said. “When you are in that state of mind, you usually play well, and that’s what’s happening.”

Scott Halleran
Lahiri has played on two International Presidents Cup teams but is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory.

If you’re unfamiliar with Lahiri you are forgiven, although to call him an unknown is unfair. Lahiri’s a two-time Olympian for a nation, India, that boasts over a billion people. He has 18 victories across the globe. Been on the International Presidents Cup squad twice. That is a pretty damn good career and, at age 34, a career that should have some runway left.

In that same breath, Lahiri is one of the lowest-ranked players at Sawgrass. He’s never won on the PGA Tour across eight seasons and he’s missed the playoffs in two of the past three campaigns. Until three days ago he was in the wilderness, and while every golfer gets lost, not everyone comes back.

“I think the nature of what we do, it could be—it’s unpredictable,” Lahiri said. “You just don’t know. You grind away, you keep chipping away, you keep working on your game, and when it clicks, it clicks. It could be this week, it could be next week. As long as it happens, and that’s the belief you’ve got to have, and that’s the commitment you’ve got to have.”

“Grind” is a ubiquitous word in golf, sometimes so that it loses its meaning. But, boy, has it been a grind this week. The starts, the stops, the wind, the rain, the long days on a course renowned for the chaos that hides at every turn even in the best of conditions. A bit of tee-time providence was needed and this rodeo is barely past the halfway point, we grant you that. Still, you’re not on this board without a wheelbarrow of grit and a heart trim in gumption.

Lahiri knows those sentiments. Unlike most tour players he does not come from country club fairways. What he played on barely constitute fairways. Lahiri was a military kid, his dad a physician in India’s armed forces. He played on what he could.

“I grew up with an inch and a half pretty much on the fairways at the army clubs I grew up, so just seeing a ball sitting down flat on the ground was a little intimidating,” Lahiri said. “I had to ask my dad to buy me a 7-wood because I wasn’t sure I could get it up in the air.” On a good day, Lahiri said, the greens rolled at a six.

To get from there to here takes a special someone. He understands he’s on the precipice of something just as special, for his would be the rare win that transcends self. “It would be huge,” Lahiri said what Monday would mean for India. “It’s not every week that you play well, but you play well in a week where people can actually see golf shots, they can see you play, it makes a bigger difference.”

But there will be plenty of time to unpack that U-Haul. Lahiri has to get to the destination first. All that stands in the way are 16 players within four shots, one of the most pressure-packed finishes in golf, more iffy weather, and himself.

“I’m just being in the moment right now,” Lahiri said. “I’m really happy—like I just mentioned, I’m happy, I’m confident. The ball seems to be coming out in front of me, which hasn’t happened that much in the past. I’m just going to try and do the same thing: Fire at pins that I’m comfortable with and clubs that I’m comfortable with. When I get an uncomfortable shot then just respect it and try and make a putt. I think that’s all I can do.”

That should serve as a warning to the rest of the field. This is not a place where “comfort” is said. Then again, Lahiri reiterated he was confident against his struggles. And there is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.

The post How one of the lowest-ranked players in the field is leading the Players Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Gary Woodland, Doc Redman and Scott Piercy are out of the Honda Classic after testing positive for COVID-19.

All three competed in the Players Championship last week, which admitted 20 percent of its maximum spectator capacity last week as professional sports begin to welcome fans back to arenas, stadiums and fields. Piercy played in all four rounds, finishing T-69, while Woodland (70-76) and Redman (73-73) missed the cut.

“Unfortunately, I had to withdraw from the Honda Classic after testing positive for Covid-19,” Woodland wrote on Twitter. “I’m grateful to be feeling good and disappointed to not be in the field this week. I’m working with the tour in regards to safely returning to competition and hope to be back soon.”

The positive test is the latest blow to Woodland. The 2019 U.S. Open champ has missed the cut in six of 11 events this season as he continues to battle back woes, sitting at 169th in the FedEx Cup standings. Redman opened the season with a third-place showing at the Safeway Open and followed up with a fourth-place finish at the Bermuda Championship, but has not finished better than T-61 since November. Piercy also had a strong fall start with three top 25s but has not posted a finish better than T-50 in 2021.

According to the tour, both players are in their self-isolation period under CDC guidelines.

The Honda Classic announced Sebastian Cappelen will take Woodland’s spot in the field, with D.J. Trahan subbing in for Piercy. Kiradech Aphibarnrat will replace Redman in the field.

The post Three players test positive for COVID-19 after Players Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

How Justin Thomas stayed calm on a crazy, chaotic Sunday at TPC Sawgrass

By golfdigest.com
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — On this most chaotic March afternoon, Justin Thomas found a moment of tranquillity. Three minutes and three seconds of it, to be exact—the time between his birdie on 16 and his turn to hit perhaps the scariest shot in championship golf.

The ever-shifting leader board at the 2021 Players Championship had begun to crystallize. THOMAS -14 sat one slot above the rest, and he knew exactly what he needed to do: Find. Dry. Land. The fans are back but the cameras never left, and five of them crammed his space as he made the trek between green and tee. People in his grill, noise in his ears.

“We love you, JT!”

“You got this!”

“Roll Tide!”

Thomas never even considered giving them a glance, let alone a wave. Hell, the man hardly blinked. This was winning time, and he had a job to do, and he had to do it on the game’s most chaotic stage: No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass.

He did indeed find the island green, eventually sinking a nervy five-footer for par. Back across the pond—speaking literally here, not geographically—England’s Lee Westwood failed to capitalize on the par-5 16th, walking off with a disappointing par and putting Thomas in firm control. When Westwood three-jacked 17 for a decisive bogey, all Thomas had to do was avoid the water hazard down the left side of 18, and this was likely his.

So, today being today, he proceeded to roast a hooking 3-wood that someway, somehow ran out of gas on the very left edge of the fairway. Water avoided, barely.

Finally—freakin’ finally—the madness had settled. Thomas played safely right of the hole, two-putted for par and emerged as the last man standing on a truly wild day at TPC Sawgrass. His 14th PGA Tour victory came via a winning score of 14 under, good for a one-shot win over Westwood and two clear of Brian Harman and Bryson DeChambeau.

Win No. 14 is a bit of a milestone, too. Thomas became only the fourth player since 1960 to claim 14 victories before turning 28. The others: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.

“The hair on my arms and neck and legs were standing straight up walking to 17 green, and I had to play five to eight yards for adrenaline just because of the fans and the moment,” Thomas said. “It’s stuff that’s so hard to explain. But it felt great. I mean, that’s why we all play. That’s why we all do this.”

Kevin C. Cox
Thomas’ 132 score over the weekend tied the lowest closing 36-hole score in Players Championship history.

Thomas’ 68 on Sunday followed an electric 64 on Sunday, and his weekend score of 132 equals the lowest in Players Championship history. He entered the third round seven shots back and trailed by three at the start of the day, knowing full well the tournament was likely out of his hands. If Westwood and DeChambeau kept playing like they had been the first 54 holes, he’d need help.

He got it.

MORE: Justin Thomas’ tips on how to smash it

The rematch of last week’s final-round duel at Bay Hill, where DeChambeau emerged victorious, never quite materialized. Not after they both butchered the fourth hole in hard-to-believe ways. DeChambeau stepped to the tee first and wanted only to bunt a hybrid into the fairway. He was playing by Pete Dye’s rules, keeping his biggest weapon in his bag and playing for position. What followed next was a shot that none of his speed training or physics equations could account for.

“I was trying to hit more of a low bullet and just kind of caught the heel, a little high on the thing,” he said. “It wasn’t really a top, it was more like a thin ball that just had no spin on it and just knuckled. If there was a top there, it would have been down on the ground.”

Instead, it traveled 143 yards until it nose-dived into the drink. DeChambeau took a drop and missed 60 yards right with his third, and the heavyweight champ was woozy. His double bogey forced him to play catch-up from then on, a big ask at a course with his much trouble.

Kevin C. Cox
DeChambeau was trying for back-to-back wins in PGA Tour events, but this Sunday he didn’t have his best stuff.

Westwood had an adventure of his own, block-slicing his tee ball into a hazard that should never come into play. It was a harbinger of an uneven ball-striking day to come, the reason the 47-year-old sentimental favourite among many will leave Florida with back-to-back runner-ups.

“I didn’t play my best golf today by any stretch of the imagination,” Westwood said, “but I battled it out. I was proud of myself for that. People question whether I can hole putts under pressure, and I rolled in a lot of must-make putts all day, really.”

Indeed he did, highlighted by a miraculous and somewhat stolen birdie on 14 after his tee shot was about one foot away from finding a hazard. That drew him even with Thomas, but Thomas played the closing holes in one under and Westwood could only manage even.

Sam Greenwood
Westwood was the sentimental favourite heading into the final round, but he couldn’t continue the solid ball-striking he’d displayed the first three days.

Harman played a role, too, the plucky underdog who refused to go away. Talor Gooch made an appearance. Paul Casey ebbed and flowed. Corey Conners had a half-chance until an ice-cold putter doomed his comeback effort.

As putt after putt from the others fell by the wayside, Thomas caught fire. He tends to do that. Thomas idolised the late Kobe Bryant, but his golf brings to mind another NBA star: Stephen Curry. Like Steph, JT seems to be coasting along, doing nothing of note, until the switch flips. The whole week fit that cadence—he opened with a pair of 71s (snooze), even looked like he wasn’t going to make the cut halfway through this second round on Friday, before he got hibachi-hot on Saturday with a 64 that proved the low round of the tournament.

And it happened again on Sunday—Thomas was one over par through eight holes, putting like a blind rhinoceros, before going (deep breath): birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie.

Kevin C. Cox
Thomas started to get the crowd on his side after a birdie on the 10th hole.

“I was playing so well those first eight holes, and I felt like I was hitting a lot of good putts—just wasn’t making anything, wasn’t getting anything out of my round. I just tried to stay in that same mind frame. I really just tried to keep executing and hitting the shots how I wanted and I felt like the putts were going to fall eventually.

“Jimmy [Johnson, Thomas’ caddie] did a good job keeping me calm and in that frame of mind, but I knew one hole wasn’t going to affect me or impact me. I know you can shoot six, seven, eight under on the back nine out here if you get it going, and I just tried to make sure that I was in the frame of mind to where that was possible.”

That one-hour stretch vaulted him to the top of the leader board, where he stayed despite missing his first putt inside three feet all year on 14.

You’re going to hear the word adversity used quite a bit in regard to Thomas’ victory. Perhaps baggage is a more appropriate term. There is no question Thomas came into this week in something of a rut. He said so himself on Tuesday. But a not-insignificant portion of that rut was self-inflicted. He said a terrible word in Hawaii, one that has no place anywhere let alone on a golf course, and he paid the consequences. Surely the fallout from that slur weighed on him. Thomas showed genuine contrition in the aftermath and has said all the right things since. But any apology won’t be enough for some to forget, let alone forgive, him.

That wasn’t it, though. On the Saturday of last month’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, Thomas lost his grandfather, Paul, a golf professional who nudged his son and his son’s son into the game that would come to define their family. When he was asked about his late Pop on Sunday, Thomas broke down. They spoke every day. Nothing made him happier than hearing grandpa’s voice.

Mike Ehrmann
A closing 68 was still emotionally gruelling for Thomas.

There’s also Tiger. Woods has been an open book to virtually any young player who wants advice, but his relationship with Thomas goes deeper than that. JT was visibly shaken upon hearing of Tiger’s accident, and he’s been in constant contact with him in the weeks since. Woods hasn’t just taken him under his wing; they’ve become best friends, and JT models his on-course demeanor after him. Remember, that moment of tranquility amid the chaos? Tiger’s had to do that a few times in his career.

“I kept telling everyone on my team or my family I’m ready for something good to happen this year. It’s been a pretty bad year and a lot of bad things have happened, but that’s life, that’s a part of it, and you’ve got to take it for what it is and try to get better because of it and take everything that’s happening with a grain of salt.

“Yeah, I’d say this qualifies as something good.”

The post An emotionally drained Justin Thomas wins The Players in record breaking fashion appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
The best golfers in the world rarely take a day off, but you can also say the same about the game’s best trash-talkers. And Justin Thomas is a rare combination of the two.

So it should come as no surprise that Thomas, just moments after winning the 2021 Players Championship, couldn’t resist the opportunity to needle his good friend and mentor, Tiger Woods.

“Part of me wishes he was here so I could rub it in his face a little bit more,” a grinning Thomas told Golf Channel’s Steve Sands when asked about Woods.

OK, so you have to be pretty good friends with a guy who recently got into a serious car accident to pull that line off, but that’s exactly what JT and Tiger are. We saw how upset Thomas was at his press conference the day news broke of Woods’ crash, and in happier times, Thomas has talked about playing home run derby in Tiger’s living room.

Also, to be fair, there was more to the quote. A lot more. Here’s Thomas’ full response:

“I was replaying what he told me a lot in my head. He likes to give me a lot of grief, especially when he’s not here, and I think like calling him, like Bryson said, we’re all pulling for him, and I’m so glad to hear everything has been going well with him,” Thomas said. “But yeah, part of me wishes he was here so I could rub it in his face a little bit more. But no, I’m happy and I hope he’s happy, and I always appreciate his help.”

And here’s what Thomas said when pressed a little more about what Tiger has been telling him:

“I mean, just to stay patient. I mean, it’s been a lot of stuff, but it’s between us, and it’s great,” Thomas said. “He’s so nice to myself and Bryson and so many guys out here that if you would have told us when we were 15, 20 years old that Tiger Woods was texting us the night before we have a chance to win the tournament trying to inspire us, that’s pretty cool.”

Pretty cool, indeed. And knowing how much Tiger loves to “give the needle” as he so often says, he probably got a huge kick out of JT’s jab. Of course, also knowing how competitive Tiger is, he won’t forget it anytime soon, either.

MORE: Justin Thomas’ tips on how to smash it

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By Christopher Powers
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — As his final putt tracked toward the cup at the 72nd green, Lee Westwood raised his putter in the air, the sort of putter raise reserved for those who are about to win the golf tournament. The 15-footer dropped, and the Englishman took a deep breath and had a nice chuckle, as if to say “I did all I could do.”

The problem: The putt was not to win, nor to tie. It was to secure solo second to Justin Thomas, who had just finished off a four-under 68 that would earn him a one-stroke victory in the Players Championship. Westwood, the solo 54-hole leader, shot an even-par 72, a score not good enough to win, but to add to his never-ending list of near-misses in major, er, marquee golf tournaments.

For those who have that famous Vince Lombardi quote about winning framed somewhere in their homes, Westwood’s final green behavior may have seemed odd. Sure, winning $1.6 million is cause for celebration, but for a man who has made plenty of money in his golf career, you’d think he’d be a little more dejected to come up short yet again.

Perhaps a younger version of Westwood would have hung his head. Sulked his shoulders. Allowed it to affect his mood. But not the 47-year-old version of Westwood, who no longer cares about the result, or at least wants us to believe that’s the case (it’s working).

Caddie Confidential: Helen Storey takes us inside the ropes with Lee Westwood

This version of Westwood was proud of his Sunday performance. Yes, proud of losing. Here’s the thing: He should be. In coming up short, this week and last, the Englishman has showed an immense amount of fight, and holed a number of key putts that kept him in it, something he seldom did during the prime of his career. His best weapon—precision, both off the tee and with his irons—went missing on Sunday, and he still came within one stroke of taking the No. 3 player in the world to a playoff in the fifth-most important event of the golf season. Westwood did not lose. You don’t lose when you battle and fight the way he did. He just got beat.

“I didn’t play my best golf today by any stretch of the imagination, but I battled it out,” said Westwood, who lost strokes off the tee and on approach Sunday after gaining strokes in both areas the previous three days. “I was proud of myself for that. People question whether I can hole putts under pressure, and I rolled in a lot of must-make putts all day, really, whether it be for par or the great birdie on 14.”

Last week, at Bay Hill, Westwood holed clutch putts too, none bigger than the slick, right-to-left five-footer on the 72nd green that forced Bryson DeChambeau to have to make his comebacker for par to win. DeChambeau did. Westwood smiled and shook his hand, content with the result. He did not lose. He got beat.

“I’m just having so much fun,” he said. “Everybody keeps telling my how old I am. I’m 48 in a month’s time, and I’m still out here contending for tournaments and playing in final groups with great players like Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas and people like that. It’s just a joy to be involved and still playing well and being able to contend.”

The man who is literally changing the sport [DeChambeau] and World No. 3 [Thomas] have won in consecutive weeks, and both times Westwood has been right beside them. He’s not shied away from the pressure, even after a disastrous start at Pete Dye’s Stadium Course that saw him hit pair of tee shots in the water at the second and fourth holes. Even after bad bogeys at the eighth and 17th holes, after each of which he responded by making birdie at the very next hole. He fought. He battled.

“Just an unbelievable amount of positives,” said Westwood when asked what he’s taking from the last two weeks. “I didn’t play my best today. My legs felt a bit heavy, and I felt a little bit lethargic, like I wasn’t swinging as well and I wasn’t striking the ball as well, and that was evident from the tee shots off 2, 4, 11—I really got away with those.

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“What do I take from the two weeks? Just a lot of pride. I ground it out today, gave myself a chance, I suppose, at the end. Made some nice birdie putts, nice par putts. You know, these are world-class fields. These are young guys that I’m giving 20, 25 years to most of them, and yeah, I’m still contending. I’m enjoying it. It’s a thrill to be out here and still playing well.”

This week and last are all the proof you need that Westwood has a few more of these weeks in him. Maybe a lot more. In April he’ll look to win his first major at Augusta National, where he has five finishes in the top eight since 2010. If he doesn’t do it there, he’ll have three more cracks over the summer, culminating with the Open Championship in his home country at Royal St George’s. Then, the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Is there any doubt Westwood makes Padraig Harrington’s team? When he does, it’ll be his 11th appearance in the biennial event. There’s not much to be down about right now. It’s no wonder he continues to go through life so carefree.

“I do enjoy the game more. I take it for what it is—a game,” he said. “We’re just trying to get a little white ball into a little white hole. It gets treated far too seriously occasionally. With what’s going on in the world, it’s fun to be doing a job that I love and that I’ve done for 28 years, and I’m still doing it.”

Not only is he still doing it, he’s still doing it at an elite level. Since dropping to 78th in the world in 2019, Westwood has climbed all the way back to 19th. He’s done this with his fiancee Helen Storey by his side and on his bag through it all, and at the Masters, his son Sam will sub in for Storey as the caddie. He’s playing some of the best golf of his life with the people he loves the most right there with him, and he’s doing it all with a remarkably positive attitude that makes it feel like his best is still to come.

What’s there not to be proud of?

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