Players withdrawal is the latest downer for Danny
THE Players Championship is the PGA Tour’s flagship event, a showcase tournament for the rest of the golfing world.
They put up the huge prize money of $10.5m – of which the winner collects nearly $2m – and hand out a five-year exemption.
They own the course, which respected architect Pete Dye designed. They expect the best players in the world to turn up – and 144 of them have done so this week.
It’s not officially a Major, but it is in all but name and most of the great players have won it.
The course was designed to challenge every department of a player’s game and it hasn’t disappointed this week.
Its fairways are narrow, there’s plenty of water that comes into play, the greens are fast and, of course, it boasts the most famous short hole in golf – the 17th.
It’s only 132 yards long but is completely surrounded by water, apart from a path where players and caddies access the green.
It’s on the players’ minds from the minute they wake up because it comes late in the round and can be a real card-wrecker.
Eighteen Europeans have made it through to the weekend and we can be optimistic that one of them will challenge for the title tonight.
Disappointingly, one player who will not be around today is last year’s Masters champion Danny Willett, who withdrew after nine holes of his second round.
He has been in the doldrums with his golf since he won at Augusta last year and TPC Sawgrass quickly exposes any weaknesses in your game.
Danny is talking about taking some time off, which is probably a better idea than beating himself up on the practice ground.
Things have not been good for a while. He and his long-term caddie and friend Jonathan Smart parted ways after missing the cut at the RBC Heritage last month.
Danny has not become a bad player overnight, but is suffering from a crisis in confidence.
One good tournament could solve the problem, and in coach Pete Cowen, he couldn’t have anyone better to help him through this mini-crisis.
Rory McIlroy arrived after five weeks off and with completely new equipment, but the big concern is a recurring back issue.
If a MRI scan tomorrow reveals a significant problem, it will put in doubt his appearance at Wentworth in two weeks’ time for the BMW PGA and that would be a major blow to the European Tour, its sponsors and spectators.
Picking a winner this evening is difficult as a lead can quickly slip away with so much water around.
Australian Adam Scott, a Major winner and a former Players Champion, found that to his cost in the first round when he double- bogeyed the last two holes to lose the outright lead.
The victor will be the man who plays the last three holes best.
The par-5 16th offers some respite, but the finishing two are the most demanding in golf.
And, as we all know in sport, it’s never over until it’s over!