With a final pairings comprising of Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods, we rightly expected an intriguing third round of the 40th Players Championship, but I’m not sure anyone quite anticipated the unpredictable and somewhat surreal day that was experienced on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass.
We witnessed an unfortunate whiffed shot from the one world’s finest ball strikers, a weather delay, and an ongoing feud developing between Garcia and Woods. By the end of the day, the third round of is yet to be complete, and we have a largely unknown name leading the way.
Not bad if we measured third rounds for the number of potential talking points.
Early on Saturday morning we saw low rounds of 67 from South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, but it was 49-year-old American veteran who was to make the most significant move among the early starters. Jeff Maggert, three-time-winner on the PGA Tour, produced a scintillating round of 66, which had been largely compiled due to five birdies in his opening eight holes. Starting the day eight shots back of the lead, Maggert, by the time of the suspension of play due to inclement weather at 16:09 ET, found himself two shots off the lead held, at that stage, by Henrik Stenson.
Reflecting on his day, and the challenge of competing in your late 40s, Maggert, who is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to play on the Champions Tour when he turns 50, said: "When I was in my 30s, I never really thought that it would be that difficult to really stay focused and stay competitive in my late 40s. "I just assumed that it was going to be easy, even though all the guys in front of me said, 'Hey, it's not that easy when you get in your late 40s.' "They're right. It takes more focus now than what I had 10 to 12 years ago, because there are so many distractions outside of golf. I just really don't put the effort in that I used to probably 15 to 20 years ago."
One thing is for certain, despite that reflective outlook, Jeff Maggert would desperately love to become the oldest winner in the history of the Players Championship.
But he will have to overcome a uniquely balanced leaderboard, which is presently being topped by David Lingmerth. The 25-year-old Swede, who played college golf at the Universities of West Florida and Arkansas, is in the middle of his rookie season on the PGA Tour, held a two shot lead at the moment play was suspended due to darkness just before 20:00 ET.
Lingmerth ascended to the top after making eagle on the 16th, before following it up with a birdie at the 17th. It was at this point that play was suspended, and Lingmerth will return first thing in the morning to the ominous 18th tee to see if he can replicate the 3-2-4 finish of Craig Perks in the 2002 Players Championship. Should he do so, Lingmerth will have shot three straight rounds of 68, and surely put himself in the final pairing for the fourth round.
Two shots back of Lingmerth overnight are three former Players champions; Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods. All eyes were on the latter two, but it appears that they couldn’t spend much time looking at each other during the round.
There was an odd moment on the par-five second hole that Garcia, attempting to go for the green in two, appeared to be noticeably frustrated by a distraction during his backswing. Later, during the initial suspension, we discovered what that was.
Garcia accused Tiger Woods of pulling a wood out of his bag, with the ensuing crowd reaction causing the disturbance: “I wouldn't say he didn't see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing, he pulled a 5-wood or 3-wood out of the rough and, obviously, everybody started screaming, so that didn't help very much.”
When asked to comment on this issue after play was suspended due to darkness, Tiger simply stated regarding Garcia: "Not real surprising he's complaining about something"
Can’t everyone just be friends?
Well, tensions will continue to rise as the players return to the course at 7am ET. Sergio and Tiger will continue on the 15th, as they intend to put themselves in as positive a position as possible going into the final round in the afternoon.
It’s going to be a marathon final day at Sawgrass, but with a rookie leading ahead of three former champions, it’s sure to be a compelling conclusion to the 40th Players Championship.