– If one were Xander Schauffele or Wyndham Clark, the components of Sunday’s stellar match at the THE PLAYERS, and given the choice, one wouldn’t want to have Brian Harman in the match ahead putting pressure (or sinking putts, which comes to the same thing).
Or maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad choice? With 37 years completed in January and thirteen consecutive seasons under his belt on the PGA Tour, showing bomb-proof consistency (always, every year, he made it to the Fedex Cup play off), it’s almost ridiculous that this player, with such solidity and such virtuosity on the greens, has only won three tournaments in 350 appearances. The harvest seems very scarce, but that’s the way it is.
The small great detail is that the last of these three victories was last year’s Open at Royal Liverpool. This left-handed player, who only does left-handed when playing golf, feels that it is his moment, although it has come late, according to the usual standards of the great stars. He is a late mega star, but he is one nonetheless. And late mega stars are a double-edged sword, especially those who were already doing very well before making the big leap, which are the majority: on the one hand, it could be argued that they bring decades-delayed hunger and that they have also already freed themselves from the anxiety of twenty-something urgencies; on the other hand, in the end it is almost impossible to make up for all the lost time, one already has his routines, his way of thinking very made, a wide range of reasonably conquered expectations…
Be that as it may, just in case, in the shoes of Schauffele or Clark, one wouldn’t want to have Harman ahead putting pressure (or sinking putts, which comes to the same thing).
– We have acknowledged it actively and passively, but it is still curious what many of us continue to experience with Matt Fitzpatrick. This guy is not a late mega star, he has already sufficiently demonstrated that he is a star cooked to perfection, always evolving since he was a youngster, always improving, always throwing excellent results. And yet… Why do we never, or almost never, see him as an undisputed favourite among the bunch of undisputed favourites? He feels, he has said so, that he is playing his best golf this week since that victory at the US Open in 2022, so let’s make an effort, let’s do justice, and consider his victory today at Sawgrass as more than possible. He starts four strokes behind the leader, so he’s going to need a great round of golf, but it’s mandatory to give him his rightful place, he’s earned it.
– Festival of spectacular records on the third day. Up to 49 cards below par and 22 of them, almost half, in 68 strokes or better result. Last year something similar happened (55 cards under par on Saturday and 27 in 68 or better) and the next day, in the decisive round, the Stadium course gave a twist (greens a little firmer and faster) and the number of big scores dropped noticeably (only five in 68 strokes or better). Schauffele, the leader, hopes it will be so, as he was asking for a hot day to make the greens crunchier.
– In the fight, the last two winners of Majors, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman. We would like the winners of the previous two, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm, to be there too, although Koepka, let’s face it, never did well in this square of Ponte Vedra Beach so maybe we wouldn’t have him there today, fighting for the victory. Jon did leave more of a mark, with that Sunday lead with seven holes to go in 2021…
– What about Scheffler? He doesn’t seem in the best disposition for the comeback because of that neck injury. If the discomfort has really disappeared today, then… Then we’ll have to see if he sinks good putts, because this week, with or without discomfort, he hasn’t particularly stood out on the greens, as he finally did at Bay Hill. It is striking, in any case, to see him there, still clinging to the possibility of claiming victory and becoming the first player to successfully defend the title at the THE PLAYERS.
