Westwood beaten again in heartbreaking finish
Nerveless Thomas edges out Briton to land Players title
For the second Sunday running, Lee Westwood, the evergreen Englishman, stood up to be counted in a ferocious battled against a young Starred-and-striped superstar and came up agonisingly short.
This time it was world No3 Justin Thomas denying the remarkable veteran from Worksop, as the American assembled an inspired back nine to win his first Players Championship.
Westwood, 47, held a two-shot lead going into the last round in Ponte Vedra and despite suffering a fraught opening nine, in which he visited the water on two occasions, he fought back to maintain the same advantage when he was standing on the 10th tee.
At that stage, the biggest win of the former world No1’s garlanded career was in reach. Westwood has lifted more than 40 trophies around the globe but, after so many near misses in the majors, nothing on the scale of the tournament that is often referred to as “the fifth major”.
However, Thomas produced a staggering four-hole stretch from the ninth that he played in five under (birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie) and that ultimately set him up to grasp the $2.7million (£1.95million) first prize and the PGA Tour’s flagship title.
On 14 under, Thomas beat Westwood by a solitary stroke and was in tears on the 18th green when asked about his grandfather, Paul, who passed away recently. “I wish I could talk to him,” he said. “It’s a sign that he was watching.”
Paul, a teaching pro, would have been incredibly proud. How could he not be? His grandson became only the second golfer after Tiger Woods to win the Players and a major title and have more than 10 PGA Tour wins on his CV before the age of 28.
Indeed, Westwood might want to have a quiet word with Woods. The previous Sunday, Bryson Dechambeau revealed that a few texts from Tiger had helped him beat Westwood at Bay Hill – and last night Thomas, another 27-yearold, declared the same had happened to him.
“He told me just to stay patient, Thomas said. “I mean, it was a lot of stuff. He’s so nice to myself and Bryson and so many guys out here that if you would have told us when we were 15, 20 years old that Tiger Woods was texting us the night before we have a chance to win the tournament trying to inspire us, that’s pretty cool.”
Westwood might think otherwise in his gallant struggle against Father Time, as well as all the new artillery Uncle Sam has to deliver. He should take huge consolation in the fact that it took a spectacular 12-under weekend from Thomas – 64, 68 – to stop him becoming the first English Players champion.
In truth, Westwood’s ball-striking was not a patch on the previous three days, but if anyone continues to question his heart, they need only to examine yesterday. He was fighting his swing but somehow drew back level with Thomas with three holes to go and anyone who watched him will still wonder how he managed to pull a 72 from that wreckage.
Westwood’s 15-foot birdie on the 18th was the very least his efforts deserved. “I didn’t play my best golf today by any stretch of the imagination, but I battled it out,” he said. “I was proud of myself for that. People question whether I can hole putts under pressure, and I rolled in a lot of must-make putts all day. Whether it be for par or the great birdie on 14 [where he holed a 10-footer].
“Yeah, I had a three-putt at 17, but it’s a tough two-putt up that hill, and then I rolled in one at the last, which is a little bit of justification for sticking with it, even though I probably had my ‘C’ game today, and grinding it out.”
The “C” game reference was a joke towards Dechambeau after his claim on Monday that he did not “even have his ‘B’ game” in winning last Sunday.
This must have been his “D” game, therefore, as he trailed in third, alongside countryman Brian Harman on 12 under.
Nevertheless, this was a fine week for Dechambeau as the nuances of Sawgrass do not really suit his gungho approach. He promises to be a huge presence at the Masters at Augusta National next month.
Paul Casey fans will be fancying
the Cheltenham outsider’s chances as well.
He finished fifth on 11 under, despite taking a quadruple-bogey seven on the infamous island-green par-three 17th on Thursday and missing so many tiddlers to boot.
He and Westwood will go to Georgia as England’s two biggest hopes despite both being in the over-40 section. Certainly, Westwood, who has finished in the top three at the Masters on three occasions, does not expect this latest near miss to leave any demons. “I’m having so much fun,” he said. “I’m 48 in a month’s time, and I’m still out here contending for tournaments and playing in final groups with great players like Bryson and Justin.
“There is no downside. I do enjoy the game more nowadays and I take it for what it is – a game. We are just trying to get a little white ball into a little white hole. It gets treated far too seriously with everything that’s going on in the world right now.”