Day goes wire-to-wire to win Players Championship

The world number one finished on -5, to finish four-shots ahead of the field.

Woods hasn’t played since August.

Former world No. 1 Scott, who finished at seven under in a tie for 12th, did not hold back with his praise. The 47-year-old entered the Players ranked No. 495 in the world and left his biggest payday ($504,000) since his only win on Tour, at the 2013 Travelers Championship. “I think I did okay this week”, he said.

He began the day with a four-shot cushion, and never led by less than two strokes despite some wayward tee shots at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach. He hasn’t won in three years. I just need to grind on my short game.

“I just kept on saying to myself, just settle yourself down”.

“What happened today was just kind of a ideal storm with the weather”, he said. “I’m not sure what Jason’s scrambling stats were, but they were much better than mine on the week”.

After a sloppy 38 his first nine holes that included two bogeys and no red numbers, Day made birdies on the 10th, 12th and 16th to polish off a 1-under-par 71 to finish at 15 under 273 and four shots clear of the toughest field in golf.

Day responded with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 ninth, blasted out of a greenside bunker to three feet to birdie the par-5 11th, chipped in from 53 feet for a miracle par at 15 and birdied the par-5 16th.

For the Aussie, this is his seventh PGA Tour win in his last 17 starts.

“Just imagine how you’d feel confidence-wise, and Jason must be kind of feeling something like that at the moment, and that’s an incredibly nice way to walk out on the golf course”.

Day, who began the tournament with a course-record tying nine-under par 63 followed by a 66, was less sharp on a hard weekend, but his lead was never really threatened.

“You can see there’s that calmness inside him, calm confidence, and the way he’s walking around, he’s got that kind of unbeatable look about him”.

The greens at the Stadium Course were not almost as severe as Saturday, when only six players managed to break par and Day made a pair of double bogeys to slow what had been shaping up as a runaway.

World number 406 Rahman has won two Asian Tour titles, but is seeking his first on the European Tour in this co-sanctioned event.

Day also won the Dell Match Play, winning six of his seven matches before they reached the 18th green.

“As I watched the news on TV, and saw the devastation that took place, I thought I needed to do something”, Matsuyama said through his translator, Bob Turner, according to pgatour.com.

Day four-putted from 18 feet for a double bogey.

Day was clearly delighted and excited to be the Players Champion but he was keeping it real when asked about the roll he is on. A potential birdie turned into an unsettling bogey, and he had to make a 6-foot putt to avoid the score being worse.

Day is due up next at the Memorial tournament in two weeks in his hometown in Columbus, Ohio before the US Open. Gathered emotions knocked it in and led to a clutch back nine.

Australian Jason Day survived greens that were nearly unplayable at times, overcoming two early double-bogeys to maintain a four-stroke lead after the third round of the Players Championship in Florida.

“I told Ellie earlier this morning, this is probably the most nervous I’ve been before a tournament round”, he recounted after finishing at -15 and recording his seventh victory in his last 17 starts, adding THE PLAYERS in 2016 to his resume.