With winds whipping, Sergio Garcia gets in position to win The Players
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Once Sergio Garcia freed his mind of the Masters, he put himself in position to win The Players.
On a windy Saturday at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, where gusts reached 30 mph, moving day in the PGA Tour’s flagship event featured triumphant climbs up the leaderboard and plenty of carnage that sent many players reeling.
Playing for the first time since he won his first major in the Masters, Garcia, who was 4-over par after his first six holes in Thursday’s first round, shot a 5-under-par 67 to move onto the first page of the leaderboard.
“I felt like a little bit in chains on Thursday because of how overwhelming everything has been. I was thinking, come on, you have to play well after winning the Masters, you have to, you have to, you have to,” said Garcia, who won The Players in 2008 and lost in a playoff in 2015. “I put a little bit too much pressure on myself. I tightened up a little bit and I didn't play as well as I've been playing.”
Garcia, who started the day nine shots out of the lead, finished 54 holes at 5 under and trails leaders J.B. Holmes (70) and Kyle Stanley (72) by four shots. In solo third a shot back of the top duo is 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (73). Another shot back is Si Woo Kim (68). At 6 under is Emiliano Grillo (67) and Ian Poulter, who made one birdie and 17 pars.
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Garcia is joined by Patrick Cantlay (72) and Alex Noren (72) at 5 under.
Others heading north included Pat Perez, who shot 66 to get to 4 under and into a tie for 10th, and Francesco Molinari, whose 69 left him at 4 under.
Those who went south included Matt Kuchar (81), Phil Mickelson (78), Justin Thomas (79), Vijay Singh (79) and Jon Rahm (82). Kuchar, Thomas and Rahm missed the second cut and won’t be around for the final round.
“It was not the best day I've had, let's put it that way,” said Rahm, whose previous worst score on the PGA Tour in his young career was a 75 in this year’s Masters. “I made bogey on 2 and I didn't think I missed any of the first three shots. I felt like they were all good and I ended up making a bogey. And then on 4 I do not know what went through my body to almost shank a 4-iron in the water. To be honest, I had five putts in the first four holes and I was 3-over par. So putting was working. And then after that things just went down.”
Garcia felt the same way after playing his first six holes of the tournament. He basked in the afterglow of the Masters earlier in the week, receiving hearty congratulations from his peers, hearty cheers from the spectators. With the green jacket back at his rental home, he couldn’t escape the Masters.
But he held it together in the first round and then made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole to salvage his first round, shot 71 in the second and made his move in the third.
“(Friday) was important to make the cut after how overwhelming everything has been,” Garcia said. “I was a little bit cautious the first two days, so today, even though it was much tougher with the windy conditions and how gusty it was out there, I was able to hit some really, really quality shots. ...
“I didn't feel rusty game-wise, I felt rusty probably head-wise. I felt like there were a lot of thoughts going in my head, and the first day I was still thinking about the Masters and everything that has been going on.”
Now, he said, he’s in a “much better position.”
Poulter is in position to win his first stroke-play event in the U.S. after posting the only bogey-free round of the day.
“Before I even teed off, Pat Perez walked in the locker room. I saw he posted 6-under, which is an incredible round of golf. Then as I get out on the range I can see it blowing 25 miles an hour and I thought, ‘Wow, this is going to be a proper test of golf,’” Poulter said. “So, to go bogey-free out there today was incredible. Obviously I've kept mistakes off the card. I played very patient golf and I tried to play as sensible as I can. ...
“If you would have handed me a scorecard which said it would have added up to 71 free round, I would have taken it.”
Holmes hasn’t won since the 2015 Shell Houston Open but was on the victorious U.S. squad that won the Ryder Cup last year. Holmes found some adventurous spots with his wayward driver during the third round – he drove his tee shot on 14 into a lake that rests by the tee on the 12th hole – but managed his way around with a solid putter.
“It was hard for me to hit fairways. It was just tough,” Holmes said. “Just pars were a good score and some of the pins you tried not to get greedy and just tried to get up there and get your par and try to make a birdie when you can. ...
“I grew up in the woods playing golf, so I learned how to hit fairways when I got on Tour. Today was just a throwback to how I played junior golf. So obviously it's a lot less stressful in the fairway, but it was tough out there today with the wind.”
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