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Can DeChambeau Take Down Westwood Again And Win The Players?

By Kathlene Bissell

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 13: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States reacts to his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 13: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States reacts to his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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It’s a long way from Saturday night to Sunday night at any golf tournament, and the bigger the tournament, the longer the distance becomes.

A Saturday night lead at the U.S. Open or at the Masters or at The Players is different than a Saturday night lead at the John Deere, for example, simply because more is on the line. More money, more prestige, more years of exemption on the PGA Tour. Never mind the bragging rights it gives a player among his peers.

Make no mistake, this is a big tournament. Biggest money and the best field all year. And because it’s bigger, the players will all be more nervous.  Subject to nervous errors. That’s why it’s a long way from Saturday night to Sunday night.

Just because Lee Westwood is on the top of leaderboard tonight doesn’t make him a lock to win.  Sure, it would be a real feather in his cap, a big deposit at his bank, and he could dine out on it for years.

“It would be the biggest tournament I’ve ever won,” Westwood said to media after the third round.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 13: Lee Westwood of England plays his shot from the ninth tee during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 13: Lee Westwood of England plays his shot from the ninth tee during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

The reason it’s not a lock is because low scores are possible, as Justin Thomas proved by shooting a 64, moving up 19 places and ending the day at 10-under par, three shots back.

“I wish all rounds were that easy,” he said after he finished. “I hit the ball beautifully, I drove it well.”

But the rest of the field had a couple hours to chip away at Thomas’ number, and at the end of the round, Westwood was three shots ahead of Thomas and two ahead of Bryson DeChambeau and first-time Players participant, Doug Ghim.  DeChambeau and Ghim are Westwood’s closest pursuers.

While it might be easy to say that Sunday at The Players will be sort of a rematch of last Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the golf course is a much more severe test.

“Definitely not a two-horse race, and this is one of the toughest golf courses to front-run on,” Westwood said to media after the third round. “It’s easy to lose your mind out there and lose perspective and the situation get out of control on yourself.”

He cited Thomas’ low round as proof.

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DeChambeau does not expect to waltz into the winner’s circle, especially against Westwood.

“His driving is impeccable, his iron play is impeccable and he makes putts when he needs to,” DeChambeau said about Westwood. “Fortunately for me last week I was able to get the job done, and I think tomorrow is going to be an incredible battle.”

“I guess neither of us will treat it any differently,” Westwood said about being paired with DeChambeau for a second time in as many weeks. “I suppose if you sat Bryson down here and you asked him which golf course would suit him more, he’d probably say Bay Hill.”

TPC Sawgrass is certainly a notch or two higher up on the pain scale than Bay Hill.  They did not call Pete Dye, designer of the TPC Sawgrass, the Marquis de Sod for no reason.  Any error is magnified as we saw today when seemingly well-struck shots bounded into bad places. There will be more of that.  Guaranteed.

If anyone has a 65 or 66 in reserve, that player could throw a scare into Westwood, DeChambeau and everybody else on the leaderboard.

Dechambeau is the big unknown in the formula just because we have not seen him play as much golf as we have seen Westwood. DeChambeau didn’t look like he was playing wonderful golf on Saturday. It looked like it was hard work.  Like he was hanging on by his toenails from time to time. He had to scramble and make par putts, but that’s what winners have to do. It wasn’t a smooth 67.  But he got it done and moved up three places.

Westwood was faced with longish par putts over the entire round it seemed.

Tomorrow DeChambeau, only has to beat Westwood by three shots and the rest of the field by whatever number is necessary.   Someone else might come out with a 64 on Sunday and pass both of them.  You just never know.

Westwood, at least, has his solution for the day ahead.

“I won’t really be paying much attention to what anybody else does. I haven’t done that for a long, long time now. I’m working with my psychologist, Ben. I’ve just tried to control the things that I can control, and that’s me,” he insisted.

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