Logjam at the top through the halfway mark of the Players Championship: Wrap-up Part-2
Continued from: Logjam at the top through the halfway mark of the Players Championship: Wrap-up Part-1
With two straight birdies on the opening nine, Johnson surged to the top, claiming early lead backed up by his humble score card of two-under, 70 on the previous day.
He dropped just one shot on the front and made the turn to a blistering back nine where he ended up carding five birdies and dropped the formidable 18th.
Johnson finished for a six-under, 66 and is all set to claim the title over the next two rounds.
Johnson said, “I never really gave the golf course much; in other words, I kept it where you need to keep it. My misses were proper. I was aggressive when I could be aggressive. And I caught a couple nice saves in there, too”.
Johnson reminisced about his previous performances on the TPC Sawgrass and reckons his strong knowledge of the difficult Pete Dye design will help him immensely in the closing rounds.
He added, “I've had a couple decent finishes here. I feel like the golf course is good for my game. I think it requires-- some of the young guys that haven't played here ask me what's the key here, and anyway, you've got to putt well”.
The 36-year-old American has a whooping 21 professional victories on his belt including seven on the PGA Tour.
The 2007 Masters winner has never won the Players Championship, often touted as the fifth major in the sport.
Then comes the formidable Kuchar, who, despite of his flamboyant performances in consecutive season, is still lurking in obscurity, searching for a fresh win on the tour.
Out of three PGA Tour wins, Kuchar won the last event in 2010, the Barclays where he defeated the Scotsman Martin Laird with a birdie on the Playoff.
Kuchar started off his fiery round of four-under, 68, strengthening his already strong performance on the opening day.
With two back-to-back birdies on the opening holes on the front nine, Kuchar clinched early lead of the tournament before falling for the first bogey of the day at par-four, 5th.
He made the turn with a birdie on the ninth and was only able to card two more on the back nine.
To be continued...
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