Thomas, who cut 4 strokes, reversed 3 strokes and won the turnaround… Westwood wins runner-up for 2 weeks in a row
Kim Si-woo, 26, tied for ninth in the U.S. Pro Golf (PGA) Tour’s’Fifth Major’ Players Championship (total prize money ($15 million)) and escaped the sluggishness that lasted for more than a month.
Kim Si-woo hit a 1 under par 71 in the final round of the tournament held at TPC Sawgrass (par 72) in Pontevedra Beach, Florida, USA on the 15th (Korean time).
Kim Si-woo, who finished with a total of 8-under par 280 in four rounds, was ranked in the second top 10 this year after winning the American Express on January 25th.
Most of all, after winning the American Express, in one of the five competitions held in one month, three cuts were eliminated, and one withdrawal and four rounds, the decline, which had been tied for 50th place, has been reversed.
After winning this tournament in 2017, the trend of staying at the bottom of the two tournaments has also turned to an uptrend.
Kim Si-woo wrote down the under-par score all four days.
Only five players have submitted an under-par score for four days in this competition.
For four days, Kim Si-woo was outstanding in shot accuracy, so that he ranked second in the overall attack on the green and 12 in the green hit rate.
In the third round, Kim Si-woo, who hit a 5-under-par 67 strokes in the third round, prepared a foothold to jump into the championship competition, and played aggressively by catching 5 birdies in the final round.
However, even after coming up on the green after two times in the second hole (par 5), the number of strokes was not reduced to 3 putts, and the green play was not very satisfactory, such as missing a short part in the fourth hole (par 4).
The championship went to Justin Thomas (USA), who reduced 4 strokes this day and wrote down 14 under par 274 strokes.
Thomas, who entered the final round with a tie for third place, three shots behind Lee Westwood (England), was a birdie on hole 9 (par 5), birdie on hole 10 (par 4), Eagle on hole 11 (par 5), and hole 12 (par 5). Par 4) He took the lead by reducing his 5 strokes in 4 holes including a birdie, and a wedge with a birdie on the 16th hole (par 5).
Thomas, who won his first championship this year, climbed to 14 wins in his career.
It has been 7 months since the World Golf Championship (WGC) FedEx St. Jude Invitational won last August.
With this victory, he has relieved some of the hardships he received after making a demeaning remark during the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.
Having breached Ralph Lauren’s clothing contract, he played in a shirt with no logo on it.
This is my first time to win the Players Championship.
Westwood, who followed by one stroke, had to put aside his dream of winning the 17th hole (par 3) and 3 putt.
Westwood hit an even par 72 on that day, taking the 1st and 2nd place (13 under par 275).
Two weeks in a row, runner-up after Arnold Palmer Invitational a week ago.
Bryson DeChambo (USA), who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, reduced one stroke to a tie for third place (12 under par 276).
Im Seong-jae (23), who hit a 5-over par in the third round and lowered his head, showed potential to rise to 17th place (7 under par 281) by swinging a 6 under par with 66 strokes.
Lee Gyeong-hoon (30) ended the tournament with a tie for 41st with 72 strokes at an even par (286 strokes under a 2nd par).
/yunhap news