THE PLAYERS: Favorites blown out

While JB Holmes and Kyle Stanley have the advantage, THE PLAYERS Championship could belong to anybody starting Sunday at 4-under par.

THE PLAYERS field has survived the windiest day in the tournament’s recent memory. It’s time to look to Sunday’s round and who will win this thing. Gone are Dustin Johnson’s chances. Gone are Jon Rahm’s hopes. So too, Rory McIlroy’s and Phil Mickelson’s.

The wind shouldn’t be worse. Weather.com says the wind is supposed almost non-existent, but golfers believe it’s going to be from the northwest, which means it will be into and from the right on the 17^th and 18^th. Really, having uncertainty on that issue is unhelpful when trying to predict a winner. The temperatures should be in the 70s, which will be a relief after Thursday and Friday.

So now it may be down to skill, ball-striking and determination.

When it comes to determination, there’s nobody stronger than Ian Poulter. Remember all those Ryder Cup putts he drained on the U.S. over the years? Well, in the last month, he’s been turned upside down, career-wise, and while winning the event might not change his life, it will give him job security for five years.

Now that he knows he has a place to play, thanks to Brian Gay, he is more relaxed, he explained in his post-round interview Saturday afternoon.

"I’ve definitely been obviously freer this week playing golf than I have in the last month, and I think it shows on the course. I feel like, obviously, the door has been opened. I want to walk through that door. I want to press forward and keep playing good golf."

He is three back of leaders J.B. Holmes and Kyle Stanley.

Stanley, a low-key guy from Gig Harbor, Washington, seems to not have a blood pressure, but of course everyone does. He has worked hard on his game in the last year to get it back to winning form, and he’s on the cusp of his biggest career move. Can he? Maybe. He doesn’t seem the nervous type, but he’s using the claw. That’s always a sign. However, the claw worked for Sergio Garcia at the Masters, so it may be the next big thing in putting strokes.

Louis Oosthuizen is one back, and he’s a major ahead of everybody on the leaderboard except Garcia. He has experience. He’s calm on the outside at least. He has a silky swing and a smooth putting stroke, and if the wind blows, he says he doesn’t care.

"It is windy where I grew up. I do enjoy windy golf, and I think that’s why I love playing in the Open Championship."

It was so windy the year he won they suspended play in one round because balls were oscillating on the greens, according to visiting writer John Hopkins, who writes about golf for The Times of London.

Holmes is the wild card in the bunch. Even if it’s windy and he hits the ball in crazy places, he doesn’t care because, as he said, after the third round:

"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."

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The other thing about J.B. is that he’s already had brain surgery and a little thing like a Pete Dye golf course is probably not going to scare him.

We don’t know enough about how Emiliano Grillo will do under the final round pressure of the biggest event on the PGA Tour. Tomorrow we will get an idea.

Perhaps the most interesting guy on the leaderboard is newly-minted Masters champ, Garcia. For a change, balls seem to bounce the right way for him. Putts seem to drop. Maybe winning the Masters has changed his golf luck. Maybe he will be the second golfer ever to win the Masters and The Players in the same year. The first was Tiger Woods in 2001.

I would not bet against it.

However, anyone at 4-under par or better has a decent chance to win with a great round because anything, good and bad, can happen on the final three holes at TPC Sawgrass. Anything.

Next: Day 2 TPC Sawgrass 17th hole highlights

It all starts to unfold at 8:45 Sunday morning when Jason Dufner leads off with a solo round. Holmes and Stanley go off at 2:30pm ET. Live tv coverage of the final round begins at 2pm ET on NBC,

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