A look at the best moments in the third round of The Players Championship on March 14, at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Who’s leading The Players?
Ludvig Åberg shot 71 with a bogey at the final hole but he still upped his lead from two shots to three, over Michael Thorbjornsen (67) and four over Cameron Young (72).
Shot of the day
Åberg set up his third eagle of the tournament by pounding a 5-iron from 238 yards out at the par-5 11th hole to set up a 17-foot putt.
Hole of the day
The par-4 sixth hole, with the huge oak tree guarding the tee and its short length tempting players, was either feast or famine for the third-round leaders.
Among players who birdied the hole were Thorbjornsen, Young, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose and William Mouw.
But did it ever bite Justin Thomas. He was four off the lead but an errant drive near the water, three more shots that failed to reach the green and two putts resulted in the only triple-bogey of the day at the sixth and a severe blow to his hopes to win a second Players. A double for Brian Harman also stood out like a sore thumb with two birdies before and one after.
The pin was back-left, not a great angle for players like Thomas who missed the fairway left. No. 6 averaged 4.042 for the third round, up from its below-par average of 3.959 in the second round. He yielded 18 birdies, 36 pars, 14 bogeys and two double bogeys.
Island Green report
Wherever he is, Stadium Course architect Pete Dye is likely not happy.
The par-3 17th hole has rolled over and asked players to rub its tummy the last two rounds. For the second day in a row, the hole played under par at 2.89 with only two balls in the water and one in the bunker. With a cut in the front right, players hit their tee shots a little above the hole and let it trickle down to easy birdie range for most: the average proximity of 18 feet, 8 inches was the closest of any hole on the course in the third round.
The seven water balls in the middle rounds are the lowest in history since the PGA Tour began tracking accurate shots in 2003. The previous low for the second and third rounds combined was 10 in 2009.
The 23 water balls through 54 holes matches the third-lowest during that span. There were 19 balls in the water in the first three rounds in 2003, 20 in 2010 and 23 in 2004.
Another indication of how close players were hitting it to the hole: there were no three-putts.
The cumulative score of 3.098 is 11th on the golf course and the easiest among the four par-3 holes.
Stat of the day
85.71 percent: Åberg’s scrambling percentage, getting up and down for par 12 of 14 times after missing greens, tied for first in the field.
Quote of the day
“Not unless it starts blowing 30 miles an hour.”
Scottie Scheffler on his chances to contend in the fourth round.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship third round shot of day, hole of day, key stat
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
