Westwood surges to 36-hole lead
Strong 6-under 66 gives him 1-shot edge
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — After his final putt dropped for a birdie Friday at TPC Sawgrass, Lee Westwood celebrated the 5-footer by kissing his caddie.
Having fiancée Helen Storey carrying his golf bag has its benefits. Westwood’s caddie choice also epitomizes a more relaxed approach to the game as he enters the twilight of his career.
The 47-year-old will be the first to say he wasn’t wired this way a decade ago when he believes he cared too much. Whatever he’s doing now is working.
Westwood continued his stroll through the Florida Swing, carding a 6-under-par bogey-free 66 during Friday’s second round of the Players Championship to seize a one-shot lead over fellow Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick.
“I had fun out there,” Westwood said. “Felt calm and in control.” It showed. Westwood hit 14 of 18 greens, giving him 31 of 36 in regulation through 36 holes, or 86.1%. He also sank nearly 123 feet of putts Friday, highlighted by a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third hole — one of five birdie efforts of 10 feet or longer.
But Westwood’s carefree attitude might be his best club in the bag these days.
Westwood left the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday a runner-up on the leaderboard to hard-charging Bryson DeChambeau, but hardly discouraged.
Instead, Westwood focused on the confidence he gained in Orlando and carried it into the main event on the month-long tour through the Sunshine State.
“I care less about the outcomes,” Westwood explained. “I still care about my performance, and that in turn leads me to work as hard as I’ve always worked. But I’ve been working with a psychologist for a few years now and we just focus on the process, we don’t focus on the outcomes and things we can’t control.
“The only thing I can control when I go out there is the process and making sure I have fun.”
Westwood will look to let the good times roll this weekend during the PGA Tour’s showcase event.
Westwood was paired in the final grouping Sunday at Bay Hill with the big-hitting 27-year-old DeChambeau. On Saturday at TPC Sawgrass, Westwood will tee off with the 26-year-old Fitzpatrick, who made headlines last summer by questioning DeChambeau’s power-obsessed approach to the game. Fitzpatrick’s precision served him well Friday, delivering his second straight round of 68 and featuring 15 greens in regulation on the tricky, 7,196-yard layout.
Fitzpatrick lipped out from inside 20 feet for birdie on the par-4 7th hole or would have ended the day tied with Westwood.
“I personally think the straighter hitters probably have a bit of advantage around here,” Fitzpatrick said. “Gives you more of a chance to hit more greens, really.”
Perhaps true to Fitzpatrick’s point, DeChambeau could have used a mulligan on his opening tee shot, a 286-yard blast with a 3-wood well right of the fairway to lead to a double-bogey 6 on the 10th hole. DeChambeau, though, quickly settled down and made five birdies and 12 pars the rest of the way for a second straight 69.
Sitting three shots behind Westwood, DeChambeau aims to become a back-to-back winner, something only Brendon Todd in 2020 has accomplished since
DeChambeau did it at the end of the 2017-18 season.
“I wasn’t feeling as comfortable as I should have been feeling, and unfortunately, that’s the way my day started,” DeChambeau said of his errant drive to start his second round. “I don’t think that’ll happen this weekend. I’ve got to make sure that my game is good off the tee. “I have to get it in the fairway.” Designer Pete Dye’s course punishes golfers even slightly off their games and exposes players who are searching for answers.
Rory McIlroy, the 2019 champion when the Players last was completed before the pandemic, followed an opening 79 with a 75 to finish his week 10-over and well off the ever-par cut line. Former champions Henrik Stenson (+15), Matt Kuchar (+7), Rickie Fowler (+6) and Webb Simpson (+2) did not qualify for the weekend, either.
McIlroy also was among five
players ranked in the top 10 to miss the cut, joined by Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton (+1), Xander Schauffele (+4) and Patrick Cantlay (+5).
Meanwhile, first-round leader Sergio Garcia followed a nearly flawless 65 with an even-par 72 as his career-long struggles with his putter resurfaced. Garcia missed four par putts from within 6 feet, including a 23-inch effort on the par-4 15th hole. He also missed two 8-footers, one birdie and another for par.
“It was a beautiful roller coaster,” Garcia said. “Yeah, there were a lot of good things. Unfortunately a lot of bad things. You miss a couple putts here and there, it’s easy to kind of let the round get away from you.
“Fortunately for me, I was able to keep it together.”
Birdies on the 16th and 18th holes allowed Garcia to end the day two shots back at 7-under and tied
with Chris Kirk.
Kirk carded the tournament’s low round of 65, highlighted by a hole-out from 147 yards for eagle on the 439-yard first hole.
“That was a very pleasant surprise for sure,” Kirk said.
Journeyman Denny McCarthy pulled off a stunner himself, making a hole-in-one on the 165-yard 3rd. McCarthy’s second consecutive round of 69 left him at 6-under and tied with several players, including DeChambeau and 44-year-old Charley Hoffman.
Having just 56 of 91 made cuts on the PGA Tour, McCarthy is in a rare position. The 28-year-old also is just down the road from his greatest moment as a professional, a 2018 victory at Atlantic Beach Country Club during the Web.com Tour Championship.
“Definitely some good vibes here in Jacksonville,” McCarthy said.