Westwood takes charge at midway point of Players
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — There’s something for everyone on the second-round leaderboard of The Players Championship.
Golf royalty, European style? There’s venerable Lee Westwood of England, coming off a near-miss in winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week in Orlando. The 47-yearold winner of 44 worldwide events shot a classy, bogeyfree 66 at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Friday to take the 36-hole lead at 9-under-par 135.
Then there’s 18-hole leader and 2008 Players champion Sergio Garcia of Spain, who sparkled with a 65 in Thursday’s first round. He resisted several urges to implode and battled back with his third eagle of the tournament, at No. 11, and birdies on two of his last three holes for as 72 and a tie for third at 7-under.
In between those two is one of the next generation of British stars, Matthew Fitzpatrick, who played his last 10 holes at 4-under with no bogeys for a 68. He will join Westwood, 21 years his senior, in the final twosome in Saturday’s third round.
With Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth floundering and Brooks Koepka injured, Bryson DeChambeau leads the American superstar flight. Last week’s winner at Bay Hill bounced back nicely from a doublebogey on his first hole and shot a second 69 to tie for fifth at 6-under, setting up another weekend of Must-see BRY-TV on the NBC telecast.
If tales of redemption warm the heart, there’s Chris Kirk. The University of Georgia graduate, who kicked alcoholism to return to the PGA Tour, had a remarkable stretch in the middle of his round when he played six holes at 6-under — highlighted by an eagle-two at No. 1 — and matched Garcia’s firstround score for the lowest of the tournament so far to join the Spaniard at 7-under.
And if hard-working pros who are one part talent and one part grit stir the soul, may the PGA Tour’s Gold Standard event present Denny Mccarthy (69, with a rare hole-inone at No. 3), Brian Harman (71), Doug Ghim (67), Charley Hoffman (68) and Sungjae Im (66), who are tied with Dechambeau at 6-under.
The second round was suspended at 6:36 p.m., the second day in a row the field of 154 players couldn’t complete the round due to darkness. Eight players will return on Saturday at 7 a.m. to finish the round and the official cut will come.
That even-par cut is not likely to change and will claim defending champion Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Bubba Watson, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and 2018 Players champion Webb Simpson.
On a day when 16 players finished within five shots of Westwood’s pace, he may yet wind up being the best story. A Ryder Cup stalwart and a winner on every continent where golf is played, Westwood has been chasing a major championship without success for his entire career.
He has 18 top-10 finishes in major championships and nine top-three finishes. He also has five top-10s in The Players, beginning with a tie for fifth in 1998, the first year he ever played the Stadium Course.
But he’s secure in the effort he’s given and possesses enough self-awareness to not let it eat at him — at least on the surface.
“I care less about the outcomes,” he said. “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. I make sure I have fun.”
How could he not on Friday? On another sun-splashed day, Westwood hit 14 greens and poured in birdie putts ranging from a 30-footer at No. 3 to his closing 5-footer at No. 9.
And don’t think he won’t have some weekend fire. He took Dechambeau to the brink last week, gouging out a par from a horrid lie in a fairway divot at Bay Hill and forcing Dechambeau to make a 5-footer for par to win.
Westwood doesn’t have Dechambeau’s size, strength or natural ability. But he does have his own band of guts and guile.
“I think to compete in any of these tournaments against the best players in the world, you can’t have any weaknesses in your game,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to say I’m doing this better or that better (but) there’s not a shot out there I’m afraid of. There’s not a shot out there I’ll walk up to and think, I haven’t got this one.”
And if the weekend comes down to another Westwood vs. Dechambeau duel, Dechambeau said he’s up to it on a thinking man’s course.
“You’ve just got to fight for every shot,” he said. “It’s about focusing on the shot at hand and making sure you put it in a place where you can make par or make birdie from. I’m always trying to giving myself the best opportunity and completely forget the last shot that happened.”
Mccarthy and Kirk have recent history of winning on the First Coast to give them confidence. Mccarthy won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in 2018 at the Atlantic Beach Country Club and Kirk won the Korn Ferry King & Bear Classic last June, the second tournament after that tour, and the PGA Tour, returned to golf.
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady has agreed to a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that provides the Super Bowl champions with much-needed salary cap relief and will help the seven-time NFL champion reach a goal of playing until he’s at least 45.
Brady posted a picture of himself on Twitter, signing the extension Friday with the message: “In pursuit of 8 ... LFG@ Buccaneers we’re keeping the band together.”
The extension confirmed by the team frees about $19 million in salary cap space, a move that improves Tampa Bay’s chances of returning as much of its championship roster as possible for 2021.
Seven starters from the Super Bowl were among two dozen Buccaneers eligible to become free agents next week.
“When we acquired Tom a year ago, we were extremely excited about the leadership, poise and winning track record that he would bring to our locker room. Since that time, he has proven himself to be the ultimate competitor and delivered in every way we had imagined, helping us capture the Lombardi Trophy,” general manager Jason Licht said.
“Year after year,” the GM added, “Tom proves that he remains one of the elite quarterbacks in this game and we couldn’t be happier to keep him in Tampa Bay as we continue to pursue our goals together.”
Brady’s extension adds an extra season on the two-year, $50 million contract he signed in free agency last March following a 20-year run with the New England Patriots.
The five-time Super Bowl MVP capped his first season with the Bucs by leading Tampa Bay to its first championship in 18 years.
In preparation for the start of free agency next week, Licht placed the franchise tag on receiver Chris Godwin and signed linebacker Lavonte David to a two-year, $25 million contract that was announced Friday.
David’s contract, of which $20 million is guaranteed, includes voidable years that make it salary cap friendly.
Brady’s extension also includes voidable years to provide cap relief this winter.
“Tom is one of those great guys who understands that it takes a whole village to win. It takes a team, a group of guys, to win football games,” David said.
“Me, the same thing. I’m all about team,” the linebacker, who’s played his entire nineyear career with the Bucs, added. “I’m doing what I can and doing what it takes to hopefully get everybody back and go do this thing again.”
Tampa Bay was estimated to be more than $7 million over the salary cap before the 43-year-old Brady, who has said he wants to play until he’s at least 45, extended his contract.
With the quarterback’s help, the Bucs can now turn their attention to trying to reach a long-term deal with linebacker Shaquil Barrett, the 2019 NFL sack leader who earned $15.8 million last season while playing under the franchise tag.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Antonio Brown, defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, running back Leonard Fournette and kicker Ryan Succop among the other free agents Licht and coach Bruce Arians hope to retain.