Jordan Spieth was among the many stars despatched packing after 36 holes.
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — By the point 5:20 p.m. native time rolled round on Sunday afternoon, the galleries had all however deserted the primary tee at TPC Sawgrass. Just some stragglers remained, nestled towards the ropes, jockeying for area towards the handful of event organizers as the primary seconds of golden hour ticked away.
Up forward, the hordes swarmed a handful of teams containing golf’s superstars. They grumbled off within the distance — like a freight practice — and with each distant groan, they appeared to beckon the identical query: Who’s it going to be immediately?
Would it not be Dustin Johnson or Justin Thomas? Rory McIlroy or Jon Rahm? Or how about Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler?
Certainly, they presumed, somebody was due for a shifting day cost. Two-and-a-half rounds on the Gamers Championship had delivered an overabundance of speaking factors, and an underabundance of names. The rain was enjoyable (for a minute), so was the wind, and the chilly offered at the very least a number of chuckles on Sunday morning. However now it was properly into the third spherical at Sawgrass — in different phrases, it was time to start out caring in regards to the event.
Again on the first tee, Sam Burns slapped a drive into the golf green, eliciting a smattering of applause from the gang. Then got here Tom Hoge — one other fairway, one other murmur. Lastly, Harold Varner III rounded out the group.
They took off down the primary fairway alone, however for a handful of tv cameras. The birds chirped, and the breeze floated by the palms. The golf course was whisked in serenity — the kind of scene one would anticipate from the ultimate group off on a sunny Sunday night … have been it not the group main the largest occasion on the PGA Tour calendar.
Tom Hoge hits an method on an empty entrance 9 on the Gamers Championship.
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Hoge, Burns and Varner started their Sunday close to the highest of the leaderboard on the Gamers, and as usually occurs in golf, they ended it in the very same place. That a lot shouldn’t have been a shock. So why was it?
As a result of the cost by no means got here. Johnson, Thomas, McIlroy and Rahm all pale on Sunday afternoon, and spare for some true Monday chaos, none will enter the ultimate spherical in rivalry. A lot ado was made in regards to the subject power on the Gamers, which featured every of the highest 10 gamers on this planet and 13 of the highest 15. However heading into Monday, simply a type of high 15 are inside 4 strokes of the chief, Anirban Lahiri.
The celebs pale for lots of causes. They received unfortunate. Most of them, at the very least, wound up in the hellish Thursday afternoon wave, which required well-executed survival of each monsoon and windstorm simply to stay in rivalry. They began off behind the 8-ball, and a few weeks, that’s simply an excessive amount of to beat.
“It was very bizarre, arduous to get right into a rhythm,” Justin Thomas mentioned of his unhealthy scheduling luck. “Had numerous totally different feelings; first off, considering it seems to be like we have been on the precise facet of the draw and being fairly enthusiastic about that, after which realizing that was very a lot not the actual fact after which simply having to recover from that as fast as I may as a result of it’s clearly irritating. Particularly once I really feel like I’m enjoying properly, form of getting simply thrown into one thing like that.”
The celebs additionally gave it away. It wasn’t as if the Gamers wasn’t there for the taking. Sunday afternoon discovered Sawgrass in remarkably gettable form, with winds down and circumstances smooth for the primary time since Thursday night, and superintendent Jeff Plotts choosing pin positions constructed for scoring. However midway by play on Sunday, Johnson, Thomas, Rahm and McIlroy have been a mixed two over.
Late Sunday night, Thomas spoiled his personal cost by blasting a drive OB on the par-4 seventh. At virtually the identical time, Johnson spoiled his with a bogey on the par-3 eighth. That was the story on Sunday for the sport’s greatest stars, however it was additionally the story of the week. Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland have been a part of the morning wave who performed TPC Sawgrass in cupcake circumstances on Thursday. Rahm’s three-under 69 featured a pair of three-putt bogeys, whereas Hovland’s one-under 71 starred a double-bogey with 5 pictures inside 55-feet.
Why Sunday’s frigid temperatures have been truly a ‘large’ benefit on the Gamers
What occurred to the celebs? In reality, although, they simply received beat.
Earlier on Sunday, Ponte Vedra native Cameron Smith inadvertently minimize to the guts of the difficulty. No, Smith mentioned, he doesn’t play Sawgrass when it isn’t in event situation — it throws off his total barometer for the course.
“I simply suppose the situation all year long is so totally different to this week,” he mentioned. “Most likely not a lot this week truly. However final yr, for example, was so agency and quick. We usually play it extra like this.”
Expectation, that fickle phrase, performed a big function in undoing golf’s superstars on the Gamers. Whereas the sport’s finest struggled to reconcile circumstances slower, softer and soggier than they’d ever seen at Sawgrass, the sport’s relaxation rolled with the punches to staggering success.
“You simply do what it’s essential to do subsequent, like order meals, eat, go stretch, sleep,” mentioned Lahiri, who may seize his first PGA Tour win with a victory on Monday. “There’s probably not that a lot to suppose. I feel that’s a superb factor since you don’t have that a lot time, so that you fall asleep, you get up, you stretch, do your routine, heat up, go and hit the following shot. I feel that helps me as a result of it’s simply do the following factor.”
The following factor for Lahiri, as issues presently stand, is to guard his one-stroke lead heading right into a marathon closing day. He was by no means anybody anticipated to see on the high of the leaderboard come Sunday night, however then once more, he wasn’t making an attempt to be.
“I’m simply being within the second proper now. I’m actually comfortable,” he mentioned. “I’m comfortable, I’m assured. The ball appears to be popping out in entrance of me, which hasn’t occurred that a lot previously. You recognize, I’m simply going to try to do the identical factor: Hearth at pins that I’m comfy with and golf equipment that I’m comfy with. Once I get an uncomfortable shot then simply respect it and try to make a putt. I feel that’s all I can do.”
