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 No 3 Justin Thomas denying the remarkable veteran, 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 that saw him visit the water on two occasions, he fought back to maintain the same advantage on the 10th tee.
At that stage, the biggest win of the former world No 1’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 and that ultimately set him up to grasp the $2.7m (£1.95m) 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, 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 resume 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 on Sunday night Thomas, another 27-year-old, declared the same.
“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 ever 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 their head read. He was fighting his swing but somehow drew back level with Thomas with three to go and anyone who watched him will still wonder how he managed to pull a 72 from that wreckage.
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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.
DeChambeau was paired with Westwood and made great show of the fact that they were in a “rematch” in the final group again, but essentially his head hit the canvas in the fourth when he double-bogeyed the par four after topping his drive 143 yards into the water. Nevertheless, this was a fine week for DeChambeau as the nuances of Sawgrass do not really suit his gung-ho approach. He promises to be a huge presence at The Masters next month.
Paul Casey fans will be fancying the Cheltenham outsider’s chances as well. He finished fifth on 11-under, despite taking that quadruple-bogey seven on the 17th on Thursday and missing so many tiddlers, to boot. He and Westwood will go to Georgia as England’s two biggest hopes despite being in the over-40 section. Certainly, Westwood, who has finished in the Masters top-three on three occasions, does not expect this latest near-call to summon 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’re 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.”
Players Championship final leaderboard
274 Justin Thomas 71 71 64 68
275 Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 66 68 72
276 Brian Harman 67 71 69 69, Bryson DeChambeau 69 69 67 71
277 Talor Gooch 71 68 71 67, Paul Casey (Eng) 73 67 67 70
278 Corey Conners (Can) 68 72 72 66
279 Shane Lowry (Ire) 68 74 69 68
280 Charles Howell III 73 70 71 66, Daniel Berger 74 68 71 67, Jason Kokrak 70 72 71 67, Victor Perez (Fra) 73 71 69 67, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 72 70 67 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 65 72 71 72, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 68 68 72 72, Jon Rahm (Spa) 72 68 67 73