For the second week in a row, a 47-year-old Englishman with an affinity for good wines and long irons will try to take down a 27-year-old boy who has a driving range set up in his living room and talks about golf like nuclear physics. This is the biggest and dumbest sport in the world.
Lee Westwood climbed the roof with a 68 on Saturday to open a two-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau going into Sunday’s final round of the 2021 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. They were also put together as the last pair last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where DeChambeau hit Westwood with a stroke.
Let’s take a look at how these two played on Saturday and what is in store for what could be a wild Sunday final at the biggest PGA Tour event of the year. Westwood (9/2) is the narrow favorite over DeChambeau (5/2), according to the William Hill Sportsbook, but let’s take a look at who else can catch those two on Sunday afternoon.
1. Lee Westwood (-13): Westwood ran out of bogey for the second consecutive day (at TPC Sawgrass!). After opening with nine consecutive pairs, he left his best for last. With three birdies in his first seven holes in the rear nine, Westwood reached the famous par 3 in 17th and landed a shot on the table beyond the hole. But it never came down. Then he healed 25 feet for birdie and doubled his advantage over Bryson before turning to the sparse crowd at No. 17 and climbing the roof. What world.
The best thing about this week (and the last one) is that it seems that the person who is most surprised and delighted with his performance and the show he is performing is Westwood himself. A victory on Sunday would be the biggest of an incredible career. He hopes the TPC Sawgrass setting will support what players saw on Thursday. Fast, difficult and with an average score well above par.
2. Bryson DeChambeau (-11): Big Golfer rolled in a 15-footer in the final hole to save a pair that highlighted his best putt day of the week. He is proving several times this week that he is not just the pony of a trick that everyone assumes. While he won most of his strokes off the tee, this week he won only 18% of them with the big stick. It is absolutely terrifying that his best performances come traditionally on the toughest golf courses, which he – like Westwood – also expects on Sunday.
T3. Doug Ghim, Justin Thomas (-10): TPC Sawgrass almost always produces a great soundtrack for Change Day, and this year’s edition belonged to Justin Thomas. JT started out warm with birdies in his first four, and crowned his day with perhaps the tournament’s chance at No. 16, when he landed a 204 yard to 7 inch shot. He closed 3-4 and had two putts when he tied the course record of 63.
“I like Saturdays at this place,” Thomas told the Golf Channel after his round. “It’s such a fun course to play because you can do something like that. You can get hot, and if you make the cut, you can make it work.”
It will be difficult to back up those 64 on Sunday, although JT is more capable than most and he didn’t fix that score with a hot stick either. If the pilot cooperates again in the final on Sunday, he will certainly have enough firepower to catch Bryson and probably Westwood too if there is a big mistake.
T5. Paul Casey, Jon Rahm, Brian Harman (-9): This trio had a combination of 13 under on Saturday, although Casey and Rahm are the ones who intrigue for a recovery victory on Sunday. Casey has put it a little better than the field average, but Rahm comes with more firepower. It is not so difficult to imagine him posting 66 in unpleasant conditions and running over the leaders. On Saturday, he hit 67 and just birdie in one of the four par 5s. He will be a fun rabbit for leaders to see.
T8. Chris Kirk, Sergio Garcia, Matthew Fitzpatrick (-8): On the other hand, this trio agreed to shoot only 2 under on Saturday, and all three were quite disappointing on the easiest day of the event. Kirk is second in the event just for Ghim in strokes that he won from the tee to the green (and both were horrible with the club). This group is almost certain to be a long way from beating Westwood or DeChambeau – especially with their stamina – and would take a round of a career to achieve victory.