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Archives for March 2021

The Players Championship – Third Round Preview

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By TERRY LYONS

Note: The second round was suspended due to darkness at 6:36pm ET with only eight players left on the course. Those eight will resume at 7am ET Saturday.

Third-round tee times will go off the No. 1 tee in twosomes, approximately 7:55am ET to 2pm ET.

Tournament Notes

Lee Westwood leads for the second time in the last four rounds on Tour following his 54 hole performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. England’s Westwood (1st) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2nd) top the leaderboard after the second round; with 15 different international winners of The Players Championship, noting no player from England has ever won the event.

Chris Kirk (T-3) shot his career-low round at The Players with a 7-under (65), his seventh round in the 60s in his 33rd tournament round here.

Bryson DeChambeau (T-5) seeks to become the fourth player to win The Players after winning the week prior (most recent: Tiger Woods/2001 Arnold Palmer Invitational).

Five players who finished in the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational are in the top 10 after round two: Lee Westwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Chris Kirk, Bryson DeChambeau, Charley Hoffman.

Rory McIlroy becomes the first defending champion to miss the cut the following year since Rickie Fowler in 2016. Other notables to mTC included: Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Scottie Scheffler, Bubba Watson, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Webb Simpson, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, and Ricky Fowler.

The Players Championship 2021 – R-1 Review/R-2 Preview

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The Players Championship 2021 – R-1 Review/Preview

Note: The first round was suspended due to darkness at 6:32 p.m. ET with 21 players left on the course and will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday. The early Round Tee Times will go as planned (they started at 6:45am).

The 2008 Players Championship winner Sergio Garcia made two eagles and held a two-stroke lead, after partial completion of Round One. His (65) was a tournament record 25th round in the 60s.

Brian Harman stands in solo-second after a (67) that included four consecutive birdies on Nos. 9-12.

Matthew Fitzpatrick (T-3) at (-4) posted his second sub-70 score in 13 rounds at The Players (first: 69, R-1/2016).

FedExCup leader Bryson DeChambeau opened with a 3-under (69), his eighth under-par score in nine rounds at the event. DeChambeau is the only player to win multiple tournaments during the 2020-21 season (U.S. Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational).

Reigning FedExCup champion and World No. 1 Dustin Johnson recorded a 1-over (73) and stands T-60.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy recorded a (79), tying the second-highest opening round score of his PGA Tour career.

Coincidentally, the player in first place (Sergio Garcia) and in last place (Henrik Stenson) won The Players back-to-back in 2008 and 2009.

(Partial) First Round Leaderboard

Sergio Garcia 65 (-7)

Brian Harman 67 (-5)

Matthew Fitzpatrick 68 (-4)

Corey Conners 68 (-4)

Shane Lowry 68 (-4)

The first round was suspended due to darkness at 6:32 p.m. ET with 21 players left on the course and will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday. The second round will begin as scheduled at 6:45 a.m.

Lawrence Featured by Topps Football

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BROOKLYN – (Official News Release) – Having just completed one of the most decorated careers in college football history and weeks away from the likely No. 1 selection in the pro draft, Trevor Lawrence has signed on with Topps in a landmark deal that will see the winningest starting quarterback in Clemson history featured in an exclusive box set of cards scheduled for release in April. The set will be created in collaboration with Trevor’s brother and sister-in-law Chase and Brooke Lawrence, professional artists who will create exclusive artwork of the decorated 2018 national champion and first quarterback ever to win three ACC Championship Games.

The series will include 50 cards, including autographs on select pieces and will feature a mix of oil paintings and digital depictions crafted by Chase and Brooke. To create the exclusive artwork, Chase and Brooke took inspiration from psychedelic period pieces from the 1960’s-70’s as well as classic comic book and graphic novel illustrations.

“Trevor Lawrence is one of the most popular and visible players in college football in years and we can’t wait to capture his talent and personality in this set,” said Jeff Heckman, Global Director of Ecommerce. “We look forward to revealing the unique designs that Chase and Brooke will develop, and we think football fans across the country will love the series.”

 

Celtics “Earn” a New Uniform

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BOSTON – The Boston Celtics unveiled their 2020-21 “Earned Edition” uniform, designed exclusively for the 16 teams that qualified for the 2020 NBA Playoffs. This uniform set, which was worn on March 19 vs. Sacramento, marks the team’s fifth and final combination for the 2020-21 season.

While this season’s Earned Edition uniform carries over a series of notable components from various uniforms throughout the team’s collection, including the traditional ‘Celtics’ wordmark, standard shamrock on the belt buckle, and the Vistaprint jersey patch on the left shoulder, it also features an enhanced version of the franchise’s iconic color scheme. Three separate shades of green are projected through the uniform body and trim, marking the first time the team has ever featured three shades of green on a single uniform. As an additional nod to the team’s pursuit of an NBA championship, the Earned Edition uniform is adorned with special silver insignias including a silver Nike swoosh on the top left front of the uniform, a silver Earned Edition jocktag on the bottom right front, and a silver NBA logo on the back, above the player’s name.

The Earned Edition uniforms will be available to fans at retail beginning on Thursday, March 18, 2021.

Opening Round at The PLAYERS

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The Players Championship 2021 – Opening Round

From 2007 to 2018, The Players Championship was staged in the month of May. The tournament has been played at Ponte Vedra Beach ever since 1977. From 2011-to-2014, the winning scorecard read (275) each year as KJ Choi (2011), Matt Kuchar (2012), Tiger Woods (2013) and Martin Kaymer(2014) all hit the winner’s circle with that magic score.

Golf Channel noted: The past five winners (and 11 of the last 13) have been in the early-late wave (Thur-Fri) to begin The Players. Some of the most intriguing guys in that group this year: Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler.

The Top 10 Career Money Winners at The Players: (events) (money)

1. Sergio Garcia (20) – $5,466,153.43

2. Tiger Woods (19) – $4,724,366.90

3. Jim Furyk (23) – $4,081,763.72

4. Adam Scott (18) – $3,507,107.62

5. Rory McIlroy (10) – $3,333,787.50

6. Henrik Stenson (14) – $3,305,908.93

7. Matt Kuchar (15) – $3,097,894.27

8. Jason Day (9) $3,075,269.29

9. Phil Mickelson (26) $2,900,485.65

10. Stephen Ames (13) $2,781,333.34

The 2021 Players Championship marks the one-year anniversary since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the USA 9and world), sports and professional golf for a solid three months. Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record with a (63) before the tournament was called-off last spring.

Rory McIlroy was nine strokes behind Matsuyama when the tournament was cancelled after the first round last year as the coronvarius pandemic gripped the world. “I think I feel a bit better about that than Hideki does,” joked McIlroy when asked on Tuesday (March 9) about not chasing nine shots to defend his title this year. McIlroy enters The Players Championship with consecutive top 10 finishes.

Last spring, Harris English, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Si Woo Kimwere T-2 behind Matsuyama after R-1 (65s). Keegan Bradley and Tommy Fleetwood were the first round leaders in 2019.

#DriveOutHunger – Five-time PGA Tour winner, 2014 FedExCup champion and Ponte Vedra Beach resident Billy Horschel once again will host his #DriveOutHunger campaign to help feed the people of Northeast Florida. He will donate $1000 for every birdie and $5000 for every eagle that he makes during THE Players to the fund.

First Look at The PLAYERS

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First Look at The Players

The 2021 Players Championship marks the one-year anniversary since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the USA 9and world), sports and professional golf for a solid three months. Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record with a 63 before the tournament was called-off last spring.

Rory McIlroy is the defending champion from the 2019 Players Championship. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is the favorite.

The 2021 Players Championship field will featured 48 of the top 50 in the world, with only Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff not scheduled to play. It is the PGA Tour’s “Fifth Major” and an “All-Star Game that Counts” all-in-one.

The 2021 Players will allow for 20% of capacity at TPC Sawgrass. Players volunteer chairman Troy Smith said the number of volunteers has been reduced from 2,200 to around 1,500. The Players will be only the fifth PGA Tour event to allow fans since golf resumed. Fans were permitted in Houston, Bermuda, Scottsdale, and last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando.

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: The Players

COURSE: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye.

YARDS/PAR: 7,189 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $15,000,000/$2,700,000

DEFENDING Champion from 2019: Rory McIlroy  (2019 Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 3,375/600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @ThePlayersChamp

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, March 11 and Friday, March 12: 12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 – 1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Thursday and Friday from 6:30am to 6:00pm (ET); and on Saturday (7:45am-6:00pm ET) and Sunday (7:45am-6:00pm ET), PGA Tour Live will stream Featured Holes on Saturday (3:00pm to 6:00pm ET) and Sunday from 2:30pm to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA Tour is also offering “Every Shot Live” on Thursday and Friday from 6:45am to 8:00pm ET and on Saturday and Sunday from 7:50am to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Thursday, March 11 – Friday, March 12 – 11:00am to 6:00pm (ET); then Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14: (12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

Remember: Eastern Standard Time switches to Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday night. (clocks will “Spring Ahead” one hour.

TOURNAMENT SITE (link)