Players Championship: Justin Thomas defeats Lee Westwood for victory

Justin Thomas emerged on a hectic final day to win the Players’ Championship by one hit when Lee Westwood finished second for the second week in a row.

Westwood led into Sunday’s action at TPC Sawgrass, but fell behind after a wobble in the top nine.

He finished one ahead of Bryson DeChambeau, who beat him last week.

American Brian Harman made three birdies in the last nine to finish two behind at 12 under par.

England’s Paul Casey threatened to challenge, but his five birdies were offset by three bogeys that brought him to 11 under par for the tournament.

American Talor Gooch also finished three times the pace set by 27-year-old Thomas, with Canadian Corey Conners one stroke behind.

Thomas prepares for the final showdown

It was billed as the rematch, with Westwood and DeChambeau facing off in the final group for the second straight week on the PGA Tour.

The American scored a one-shot victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational seven days ago, but it was Westwood who made a quick start Sunday when he opened with a birdie.

What followed was insane. Westwood found the water at two and went berserk, before cutting his tee shot at four at another water hazard, but only after DeChambeau, the longest driver on the tour, had finished his 100 tee shot. yards in a different body of water.

DeChambeau then filtered his third shot down the wagon path before making a wonderful recovery to escape with a double bogey, while Westwood braced for a single shot.

The world number six birdied the seventh before they both fell back to eight, but when Westwood regained his two-shot lead with a well-made birdie at nine, it seemed the rest of the field had not been able to capitalize on their struggles.

What the most recent golf rivalry had failed to capitalize on was the sudden appearance of world number three Thomas, who bogey in eighth but climbed to first place after birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie to reach 14. under par 12 and giving himself a two-career lead.

Thomas led his way into the contest with an eight-under-64 on Saturday, later admitting that he has experienced a “fair amount of casualties this season” and “a lot of things mentally that I’ve never had to deal with.”

The American was dumped by clothing brand Ralph Lauren after television microphones caught him with a homophobic slur during the Sentry Tour of Champions in Hawaii in January, while the 27-year-old also lost his grandfather earlier in the year. this year.

An unusual missed putt at 14, the first from within a meter this season, saw his lead narrow to one before Westwood caught up with him up front with a magnificent birdie at 14, only for Thomas to hold. nerves and lead once again at sixteen.

US Open champion DeChambeau made the same hole to move two behind Thomas, but could not close the gap further and lamented his early double bogey.

Westwood has won 44 professional tournaments, has had victories in four different decades, and won the European Tour title in order of merit for the third time in December to become the longest-running champion of the Race to Dubai.

But the 47-year-old has not won on the PGA Tour since June 2010 at the St. Jude Classic and after only stopping the long 16 after two trips to the arena, he bogeyed at 17 and the Players title almost He disappeared.

Thomas polished a par at 18 to sign a 68 and, despite Westwood birdie at last, he recorded his first win since the WGC-St Jude Invitational in August.

“It’s been a long year, but they (my family) are always very supportive of me,” Thomas said. “When you’re in a tough place mentally or you don’t feel so good, having a support system like that is huge.”

Westwood heads to Augusta to recover

Westwood, who will turn 48 next month, looked relaxed during his recent streak of form, with girlfriend Helen Storey in his bag, but said he felt age was catching up on the last day in Florida.

The world number 31 will bounce back by taking his son, Sam, to play 36 holes at Augusta National for the first time this week. Sam will be Westwood’s caddy at next month’s Masters.

“When you’re in contention, you’d like to win every tournament that you play in,” said Westwood, whose 72 on Sunday was the only time he failed to break par all week.

“I didn’t have my game. On Saturday I felt like my legs were getting tired and weak a bit, [on Sunday] I didn’t feel like my legs were under me. He was taking shots that I don’t usually do.

“I fought all day, made some nice putts, a little disappointed that I didn’t win, but you can’t be too unhappy with a second place in the Players Championship.

“It just shows that I’m playing really well and that my game is still good enough to win here. Something to work on and hopefully recharge the battery and keep this race going.”