THE PLAYERS: What To Watch For On Saturday

It’s moving day at THE PLAYERS Championship and some of golf’s bigger names need to make a run to put themselves in position to win. Through two days at TPC Sawgrass the course has gotten the best of players like Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, and Jimmy Walker. Pre-tournament favorite and the 7^th ranked player in the world Jason Day shockingly went from in contention after a 69 on Thursday, to going home after an 81 on Friday. Sawgrass has really shown her teeth through the first two rounds, so what should we expect over the weekend?

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Not Much From Tiger Woods

If you would have asked me prior to the week who had a better chance to make the cut, Woods or Spieth? I would have chosen the Masters champion all day long. That being said the 2-time PLAYERS champ is around for the weekend, but just barely. With his early tee time none of his round will be featured on NBC’s live coverage and unless he makes an unlikely charge it will be the same scenario on Sunday.

Sergio Garcia is Going to Make A Lot of Birdies

At one point on Friday he was leading at 6-under par after three birdies through his first seven holes. Playing the back nine first, the 2008 champion looked like he was going to be on his way to making a run at his second win, and then he played 3-over par golf over the final eleven holes. He sits five shots back of the leaders, and needs a birdie barrage to get back in the thick of things. Just will there be a lot of bogeys mixed in with the birdies as well?

Rory McIlroy Can Still Win

It’s been an ok week so far for the game’s best player. All the pre-tournament hype was about his Thursday & Friday pairing with Spieth and Day. He was the only one of the three to make it to the weekend, and now it’s game on. He’s four shots back of the leaders, and needs a Saturday charge to really make things interesting. Rory has that Tiger effect though, if he does start to make a bit of a charge the leaders will notice, and it will be interesting to see how they react as he climbs up the leaderboard.

Look Out For Zach Johnson

It’s been a quiet year so far for one of the game’s steadiest players, but keep an eye on him for today. He’s had some backdoor top tens, including at Augusta but this is the first time this year he’s really in position to win a big tournament. With all the attention being put on bigger flashier names he tends to quietly sneak up on us, and walk away with the W.

This Is a Big Weekend For Rickie Fowler

Fowler needs to start winning golf tournaments. Whether it’s this week, another week, or maybe even a major championship, he needs to win something. Using a Golf.com poll that has him as one of the games most ‘overrated’ players as motivation, he’s played very well this week. He sits two shots back of the leaders, but of all the players on the front page of the leaderboard the most of the attention will be on him. He can prove his peers wrong with two solid rounds and a win this week. A top ten finish would be nice, but for Rickie it’s time to get the win.

Kevin Na & Jerry Kelly With Career Defining Opportunities

Before the week I wonder how many of you were telling your buddies that Kevin Na & Jerry Kelly would be leading after two rounds? Outside of family members of the two, I bet there wouldn’t have been a person out there with that prediction. Jerry Kelly is a journeyman who hasn’t won on tour since 2009 and at forty-eight years old he’s close to moving to The Champions Tour. Na has been a solid player over the past few years but it’s been his bizarre swing yips that dominate the talk around him. If either one of these can play well and get it done this weekend it could make their entire careers.

Next: Nick Faldo: Tiger Looks Uncomfortable

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