We should be crowning a champion Monday at The Players. The weather is rather benign—although not hot like Thursday, it is not cold, windy or stormy—so we will take it.
(Scroll down for the latest updates)
This wild Players Championship has set up another marathon day—with the leaders playing the back nine of their third rounds. The final group of Sam Burns, Harold Varner III and Tom Hoge will tee off on No. 10 to start their days.
Of course, the surprise leader is Anirban Lahiri, the 322nd-ranked player in the world who slept on his one-shot lead over Hoge and Varner. Lahiri has never won on the PGA Tour, in fact only has five top-five finishes in 153 career starts. Two of those did come in big-time events: A T-2 at the 2017 Memorial and a T-5 at the 2015 PGA Championship. Our Joel Beall has a great piece on why it should be easy to root for Lahiri, who goes by ‘Ban,’ on Monday.
Players 2022 live updates:
8:35 a.m.: Um, hello, Keegan Bradley! The 2011 PGA champ just capped a back-nine 30(!) to move to five under. Bradley now gets a nice break before the final round. The 30 is the low nine of the week at TPC Sawgrass. And it proves that the guys will have an opportunity to make big moves today with these soft, calm conditions.
8:30 a.m.: Despite hitting (by far) the worst tee shot of the final group on No. 10, Sam Burns is the only one of the three to make par. Burns holes a nice eight-footer for par while Harold Varner and Tom Hoge both make bogey. All three are now tied at seven under, two behind Anirban Lahiri.
8:23 a.m.: Paul Casey becomes to first of the contenders to put a birdie on the board Monday morning. The three-time PGA Tour winner makes 4 on No. 11 to move to eight under. He’s just one back of Anirban Lahiri. Doug Ghim also birdies the par 5 to get to seven under.
8:17 a.m.: OK, now they’re really off! The final group of Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge, and Sam Burns had a lengthy wait before teeing off on No. 10, but they’ve gotten their rounds (back) under way. Varner and Hoge find the fairway, but Burns misses into the deep rough to the right. No surprise there considering he’s hit just one fairway in his third round.
8:12 a.m.: It didn’t take long for No. 17 to claim it’s first victim. And it’s a familiar one in Sergio Garcia. The man who infamously found the water twice in the final round of 2013 when trying to chase down Tiger Woods looked to hit a nice shot on Monday, but it carried too much spin and ripped back into the water. “Story of my life,” the Spaniard, who began his day with a birdie on 16 to move to five under, muttered. Always an optimist!
8:05 a.m.: And they’re off! This marathon Monday at the Players has gotten off on schedule and it looks like we have the best scoring conditions of the week. We also have a LOT of golf left. We’d say that at this point in any golf tournament, but at TPC Sawgrass with all its trouble lurking it’s an eternity. It hasn’t been the most fun week thus far, but today should be a golf fan’s heaven. Well, unless you’re stuck at work without a TV. Still, keep it right here!