Jason Day didn’t bring his best Sunday, but he did enough to win The Players Championship by four shots over runner-up Kevin Chappell. Here’s how Day scrambled his way to victory Sunday at TPC Sawgrass:
Leaderboard: Day (-15), Chappell (-11), Justin Thomas (-10), Matt Kuchar (-10), Colt Knost (-10), Ken Duke (-10)
What it means: This is Day’s 10th PGA Tour win, his third this year and his seventh in his last 17 starts, dating back to the RBC Canadian Open last July. No other player has won more than twice during that span. Up four to start the final round, Day spent much of his time scrambling from undesirable positions but he never surrendered his lead. After making the turn in 2-over 38 , the world No. 1 rallied with three back-nine birdies to shoot 1-under 71 and walk to his latest win. At 28, Day becomes just the fifth player since 1980 to win 10 times before his 29th birthday, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Rory McIlroy. With the victory, Day takes home $1.89 million, moves to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup rankings and extends his OWGR lead over No. 2 Jordan Spieth.
Round of the day: Justin Thomas started the final round 11 shots back and vaulted himself up to a tie for third with a round of 7-under 65. Thomas made four birdies on each side with just one dropped shot.
Best of the rest: Justin Rose went 65-74-78-66 this week at Sawgrass. He made eight birdies against two bogeys and circled Nos. 14-17 on his way into the clubhouse.
Biggest disappointment: Playing with Day in the final group, Hideki Matsuyama dropped three shots in his first three holes and never recovered. He posted 1-over 71 to finish tied for seventh at 9 under for the championship.
Shot of the day: Kevin Chappell made his third eagle of the week with this pitch-in from short of the green at the par-5 11th:
That eagle-3 helped propel Chappell to his third runner-up this season following seconds at the RSM and Arnold Palmer.
Quote of the day: “I just wanted to win this so bad. Like I said in the media text yesterday, this could possibly push me over to getting into the Hall of Fame one day.” - Day
