UPDATE: Rain has caused a delay with just a few holes remaining at TPC Sawgrass. Martin Kaymer currently holds a comfortable lead. Click here for more.
The Players Championship leaderboard 2014: Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia make early moves at Sawgrass
Jordan Spieth and Martin Kaymer have held a multi-shot cushion on the rest of the field all weekend at TPC Sawgrass, but a couple veteran Euros ahead of them have a chance to put some early pressure on the final pairing.
The final pairing of Jordan Spieth and Martin Kaymer are now on the course at The Players Championship, but with some benign conditions so far, they’re not going to be able to rest on their current spot at 12-under. Both Spieth and Kaymer didn’t push the leading number higher on Saturday, hanging on through some windier conditions and tougher pin placements but still finishing three shots clear of everyone else.
But a mid-60s round is out there again today for the chasers, and three players have already posted a 67. Jimmy Walker is working on a 7-under round through his first 14 holes, so it’s likely a lower number is posted soon.
The Players Championship
The first challenger was Justin Rose, who started the day with new life when the PGA Tour rescinded an ambiguous two-shot penalty right before his final round. He kept his original tee time as if he were 5-under, which is where he thought he stood when he went to bed Saturday night. But teeing off at 7-under, Rose promptly went out in 33 to get within two shots at 10-under. If the Englishman were to chase down Kaymer and Spieth and win, the PGA Tour would have a mess on its hands after the delay assessing the penalty on Saturday and then changing course to take it back via the “Tiger Woods rule” on Sunday. Fortunately for them, Rose dropped a shot on his first hole on the back nine and is at 9-under with eight more to play.
The Rose penalty drama aside, the biggest threat to the final duo is Sergio Garcia, the 2008 winner here and last year’s goat. This is obviously a venue Sergio loves, and he can quickly go on a run to pull even. A birdie on the second hole put Sergio in double figures, and unlike Rose, he’s got plenty of time to keep chipping away. Garcia is just through two holes, one group ahead of Kaymer and Spieth. He says that implosion battling Sunday with Tiger Woods last year is behind him, but it will be fun to watch if the Spaniard gets back in it down the stretch.
Here’s a snapshot of the top of the leaderboard early on Sunday:
UPDATE: Kaymer has pulled away on the back nine, following a couple bogeys and a brutally unlucky bounce off the flagstick for Spieth.
| Place | Player | Score | Thru |
| T1 | Martin Kaymer | -12 | 1 |
| T1 | Jordan Spieth | -12 | 1 |
| T3 | Brian Davis | -10 | 12 |
| T3 | Sergio Garcia | -10 | 2 |
| T5 | Jimmy Walker | -9 | 14 |
| T5 | Justin Rose | -9 | 10 |
| T5 | Jim Furyk | -9 | 5 |
| T5 | Francesco Molinari | -9 | 3 |
| T5 | George McNeill | -9 | 3 |
| T5 | John Senden | -9 | 2 |
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