Today at the Players: It was Kim’s title, but Poulter stole the show
It was some final day at Sawgrass, where 21-year-old Si Woo Kim triumphed at the Players Championship for his second PGA Tour title.
Alex Perry and James Savage run you through the best of the day’s action from Ponte Vedra Beach…
A good day for…
…Ian Poulter.
He lost his card. Then he got it back again. Then he finished tied-second in golf’s biggest tournament outside of the majors.
And the Englishman even finished with probably the best bogey you’ll ever see…
From way right to extremely tight.
The ups and downs of golf for @IanJamesPoulter.
Whew. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/Jw6q8WP4Dr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2017
Anyway, NCG’s Dan Murphy has a whole lot more to say about Poulter’s tournament…
A bad day for…
…Jason Day.
Last year’s winner’s title defence ended in spectacularly poor fashion on Sunday.
It didn’t look too bad at one-under through six holes, but then a double bogey at seven was followed by another dropped shot at nine.
Six pars followed, but then every golfer’s worst nightmare: the quadruple bogey. It didn’t get any better for the Australian, who dunked his first attempt at 17 in the drink en route to another double bogey.
Best shot of the day
OK, there was a rather large chunk of fortune in this, but an albatross is an albatross. And not only that, it was the first ever at Sawgrass’ par-5 16th. Take a bow, Rafa Cabrera-Bello…
?ALBATROSS!?
Just perfect. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/bgyFEl6pzI
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2017
Actually, while we’re on the subject, a quick note for our American friends…
IT'S.
NOT.
CALLED.
A DOUBLE EAGLE.#ThePlayers
— Alex Perry (@AlexPerryNCG) May 14, 2017
Stick that in golf’s Room 101.
Worst shot of the day
After that albatross, Cabrera-Bello stiffed it to gimme range at 17 to make it back-to-back twos on the scorecard. Having got himself back in contention, the Spaniard could not have put his tee shot at 18 more in the water if he tried.
Still saved par, though…
The finish at @THEPLAYERSChamp NEVER lets us down.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/FuJUdB0aPm
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2017
Luckiest shot of the day
Spin-rate goals, featuring Yuta Ikeda. ? pic.twitter.com/b4VVsbULSJ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2017
This could have gone a lot worse…
"Phew!" –Ryan Moore (probably) pic.twitter.com/OwHepGXI0J
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2017
The I’ll-give-you-the-line shot of the day
Pitch perfect from @McIlroyRory! pic.twitter.com/c3az8y1Uco
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2017
Stat of the day
Back to Cabrera-Bello’s albatross, and if you’re wondering, the 16th at Sawgrass had previously been played 15,670 times in Players history without a two.
We also like this on DJ…
For 1st time since Jan., Dustin Johnson won't be top-3. Starting at TofC, his finishes: T6, T2, MC, 3, 1, 1, 1, T2 and around 15 at Players
— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) May 14, 2017
All the Gear
Louis Oosthuizen must have been desperate to summon some good vibes after a disappointing third round.
But his Claret Jug belt was unable to transport him back to 2010…
Rory McIlroy and Jason Day going head-to-head at The Players on Sunday. A dream come true for Nike. Unfortunately they weren’t even on page two of the leaderboard.
But who came out on top in the style battle?
Not even a contest I’m afraid. Day took this one with a unanimous points decision. The Australian always looks a million dollars where as Rory has been a bit hit and miss this week.
And to make matters worse for McIlroy, he wasn’t the only one to pick out the peach polo.
Francesco Molinari obviously didn’t get the ‘this is what Rory is wearing on Sunday’ memo. Imagine if they’d been paired together…
And finally, here’s a picture of Rickie Fowler. You really have to be as good as he is to pull off those High Tops.