Written by Paul Hodowanic and Sean Martin
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A difficult final round of THE PLAYERS Championship awaits, but the field won’t have much time to recover before facing another blustery day on Pete Dye’s famously penal creation. Tee times for THE PLAYERS have been moved up because of inclement weather, with the final group scheduled to tee off at 10:01 a.m. ET on Sunday.
To get you prepared in a timely fashion for an early start to a windy Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, here are five things to know before the final round:
J.J. Spaun thought it might be over last year. He could barely make a cut and it looked like he may lose his card. He came to peace with the potential end to his career. After all, the former walk-on at San Diego State had lifted a trophy during a PGA TOUR career that had spanned nearly a decade.
“Halfway through the season it was looking like I was going to be done, like not going to finish 125, and I kind of was thinking about, ‘Hey, I played eight years out here, I’ve got a great family, I’ve accomplished, I’ve won, so it’s not the end of the world if this is how it ends for me,’” Spaun said.
J.J. Spaun’s strong finish on tough Saturday gives him solo lead at THE PLAYERS
Now he could be on the verge of the biggest title of his career. Spaun is the 54-hole leader at THE PLAYERS. His 2-under 70 was the low score among players in Saturday’s final 10 groups and faced the brunt of the windy conditions, and it will give him a one-shot lead over Bud Cauley entering Sunday. Lucas Glover and Alex Smalley, Spaun’s next-closest pursuers, are three back.
Spaun was outside the top 180 in the FedExCup last June before a strong second half to 2024. He finished in the top 10 in the final two events before the FedExCup Playoffs, then had another top 10 in the fall to easily keep his playing privileges. Keeping his card hasn’t been a concern this year after two top-three finishes in his first seven events. He arrived at THE PLAYERS ranked 15th in the FedExCup. He credits his strong play this season to a perspective change that followed last year’s struggles.
“It’s dawned on me that golf is just golf,” he said.
It’s an epiphany that could result in a PLAYERS win.
Players faced gusts up to 30 mph on Saturday, leading to some wild scenes and wild shots. Akshay Bhatia and Min Woo Lee, playing in the day’s final group, had to play shots from the TPC Sawgrass driving range. Scottie Scheffler hit a pitch shot across a green and into the water, and Will Zalatoris made a quadruple-bogey without a penalty stroke. Late in the day, there was an hour or so when THE PLAYERS was unhinged.
Wild winds plus tough conditions equal carnage on Saturday at THE PLAYERS
The final 20 players to tee off Saturday had a scoring average of 75.3, and only three of those players broke par. Rickie Fowler shot 85, Emiliano Grillo had an 82 and Zalatoris shot 78 after a back-nine 44.
There won’t be a reprieve Sunday. Gusts up to 30 mph, similar to Saturday’s wind speeds, are forecast to arrive around 11 a.m. Sunday and precede a cold front that is expected to arrive in the afternoon. Storms bringing a half-inch of precipitation are estimated to arrive in the early afternoon, potentially leading to a delay of play. There is a 70% chance of precipitation starting at 3 p.m.
Bud Cauley will be the local fan favorite Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, as he attempts to win his first PGA TOUR title near the town where he sent his teenage years. Cauley will start the final round alone in second place, one stroke behind leader J.J. Spaun, after shooting a 66 in Saturday’s windy conditions.
Bud’s father Bill is a Navy officer, and his work took the Cauley family to Guam and Cuba before they settled in Jacksonville, Florida. Bud played on the public Windsor Parke Golf Club, about 10 miles from TPC Sawgrass, before going to the University of Alabama.
Bud Cauley holes out impressive eagle for the Shot of the Day
He had quick success as a pro, posting two top-five finishes in his first 10 starts as a pro to earn his TOUR card without attending Q-School. He finished 38th in the FedExCup in 2012, his first full season as a pro. He posted three third-place finishes on TOUR before a 2018 car accident that he said left him “lucky to be alive.” He attempted a comeback months after the accident, but he did not play an official event between 2020 and 2024 as he dealt with the recurring injuries from the accident. He is just a year into his comeback from the accident, and has one top 10 in 21 starts since returning to the TOUR.
“It makes you appreciate things a lot more, and yeah, as far as even my golf goes, it does put that in perspective,” he said. “When I do have bad days, it’s not the end of the world. Just come out and try again tomorrow.”
Scheffler tied the record for largest comeback at THE PLAYERS Championship last year, overcoming a five-shot deficit to become the first to go back-to-back at TPC Sawgrass.
He will need to better that record on Sunday if he hopes to three-peat.
Scheffler’s hope for history is on life support after the world No. 1 struggled in Saturday’s windy conditions. Scheffler shot even-par in the third round, maintaining a 5-under score overall. He trails Spaun by seven shots, and would need to make the largest final-round comeback in PLAYERS history if he wants to win at TPC Sawgrass for a third consecutive year.
A year ago, Scheffler birdied the final three holes of his third round to keep his PLAYERS hopes alive. This time around, he made a pair of bogeys on 16 and 17 that likely sunk them. Scheffler made a particular mess of the par-5 16th, driving it in the pinestraw left of the green, then topping his recovery shot into the right rough. From there, he ping-ponged back to the left rough and failed to get up and down for par. Scheffler safely found the green on the island par-3 17th, but three-putted from 52 feet for another bogey and threw his ball in the water in frustration.
Scheffler has made numerous uncharacteristic mistakes at TPC Sawgrass this week, a continuation of wobbly play that has defined the start to his season, post-hand injury.
A birdie at the 18th provided a respite for what was a frustrating day for Rory McIlroy. The world No. 2 made four bogeys, all of which he thought were “soft.” He birdied just one of TPC Sawgrass’ four par 5s and struggled greatly on the slower greens, losing more than a shot to the field with his putter. It left McIlroy unsatisfied.
“I feel like I played better than I scored,” he said. “… I could have shot something in the 60s. I have to at least be encouraged by how I hit it and how I controlled myself around there. I just need to chip and putt better tomorrow.”
Rory McIlroy dials in iron and birdies No. 18 at THE PLAYERS
To McIlroy’s luck, nobody posted crazy-low numbers on Saturday afternoon. Despite his struggles, McIlroy enters Sunday’s final round just four shots short of Spaun. And four shots at TPC Sawgrass can evaporate in an instant.
Ahead of McIlroy is a largely unproven crop of players. Lucas Glover is the only major winner that McIlroy is chasing. Cauley and Smalley have never won a TOUR event, while Spaun’s lone win came three years ago. McIlroy should like his chances under pressure, especially with difficult conditions expected to sustain.
“I think when you’re a little further back, you’d rather have some testy conditions,” he said.
If McIlroy can close, he would become just the eighth player to win multiple PLAYERS Championships. And it would be McIlroy’s biggest win since he won at TPC Sawgrass in 2019.
It will take a better round than Saturday’s to get it done.
