THE PLAYERS: The Five Who Disappointed The Most This Week

The 2022 Players Championship has at long last reached its conclusion. The weather-delayed spectacle that began on Thursday came to a close on Monday evening as Cameron Smith became the 5th winner of the Players Championship from Australia.

Smith follows in the footsteps of fellow countryman Jason Day, Adam Scott, Craig Perks, Steve Elkington, and Greg Norman to have won the coveted title. Cameron put on an incredible show at TPC Sawgrass as did a handful of others throughout the week, and while weather certainly played a factor this week, there are still several players who disappointed us at the 2022 Players Championship.

Let’s take a look at the five biggest disappointments from this week in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida.

The Five players who disappointed the most at the 2022 Players Championship

Paul Casey

This may seem incredibly harsh but hear me out. Sure Paul Casey had a fantastic week but once again he came up just short in one of the biggest events. He has had numerous top 5 finishes in the biggest events throughout his incredible career and that now extends into this week. Paul has finished top 5 at the last two PGA Championships, and top 5 at the last two Players Championships. He consistently puts himself in great positions to win but thus far has struggled to secure the win in these massive moments.

Casey had a real chance of breaking that streak this week and there were moments when Cameron Smith faltered that he failed to take advantage of. Down by a couple of shots for the majority of the final round, the best Paul could accomplish was to keep even with and maintain within touching distance. Sure he did well to achieve that, but there were times when Cameron Smith missed fairways and found himself in difficult spots, and Casey was then also inaccurate with his very next shot after Smith had presented a small opening.

He will say that he was unlucky to have found his ball in a divot on the par 5, 16th, a moment that in all likelihood cost him a chance at a birdie, and while this is true this was not the only moment that presented itself that he failed to capitalize on. For that reason, the Englishman makes this list.

Daniel Berger

Another player who made the cut but disappointed during the final round of the Players Championship. Berger had gotten himself to within a couple shots of the lead on Monday at one point, he also was just three shots adrift when play came to a stoppage on Sunday evening.

Of course, Berger also let a lead slip just a couple of weeks ago at the Honda Classic in an event that he will have felt like he should have won given his position going into the final round. He was making a run up the leaderboard on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass before he missed another short par putt on the par 3, 13th hole, a result that essentially ended his chances as he went on to make back to back bogeys across the next two holes.

Much like Casey before him, Berger has put himself into a position to win some of the bigger events but has yet to accomplish that feat just yet. Sunday was another potential opportunity and he faltered just when he had momentum working in his favor.

Collin Morikawa

Much was expected of one of the world’s best ball-strikers entering this week due in large part to how he has performed on the big stage thus far in his young career. The champion golfer of the year was an unfortunate victim of the wave-split this week, having just begun his first round on Thursday evening before play was eventually halted. Morikawa looked sharp out of the gate and even gave himself a fairly easy birdie attempt to begin his round on Friday when the horn had blown on Thursday evening.

The 2020 PGA Champion had produced six top 10 finishes in his last ten starts prior to missing the cut this week. You have to go all the way back to the Northern Trust last year to find his previous missed cut. Collin really just struggled to convert any of his opportunities this week, especially in the second round, and it was this quiet performance that earns him a spot on this list as one of the biggest disappointments from the 2022 Players Championship.

Patrick Cantlay

Unlike Morikawa, Cantlay was not a victim of the wave split at the Players Championship this year. Sure he had difficult conditions to deal with during his second round, but so did the majority of the field. Patrick went off early on Thursday and while he struggled to really get anything going he was right in the tournament after an opening-round 72, which was good for even par on the number.

You would have expected the World number four to ignite his tournament during his second round, especially with the past success he has had on Pete Dye designs. Instead, he produced the opposite during the second round as he struggled to a 77, five over par round. The performance ensured he missed the cut for a second consecutive year at The Players Championship.

Cantlay, who has six top 10’s in his last eight starts now, fell victim to the 17th hole like so many others this week, a triple-bogey during his second round was just the icing on the cake of what was a difficult week for the 2021 FedEx Cup champion.

Brooks Koepka

The four-time major winner had a shocking second-round when all was said and done this week. Koepka was another player that began his tournament with an opening 72 this week, but he had an absolutely shocking round when he succumbed to an 81, nine over par round. It was tied for the worst round two score at the 2022 Players Championship.

Koepka has had an up and down start to 2022 but is someone that most expect to show up in the big events due in large part to his terrific record on the big stage. He was sixth or better in three of the four majors last year and had previous finishes at TPC Sawgrass that included an 11th and 16th place finish a couple of years ago.

It is not so much that Brooks missed the cut at the Players Championship in 2022, it is how he missed the cut. It was a complete implosion by the World number 16 this week.