2015 Players Championship leaderboard: Sergio Garcia charges into 1st at TPC Sawgrass

A familiar face has shot to the top of the leaderboard at The Players. Sergio Garcia’s struggles at the major championships are well-documented, but he always seems to be on the first page of the leaderboard at The Players. He’s contended at the majors too, but the difference at TPC Sawgrass is that he’s already pocketed a Players title. Now he just needs to get everyone else to buy into that “fifth major” hype and make it count as much as the four others.

TPC Sawgrass suits Sergio’s strengths. It’s a course that requires a player to move the ball both ways, both off the tee and with irons on approach. Garcia is among the best ball-strikers in the world and never has much of a problem playing a clean round in those areas.

The putting has always been Sergio’s biggest weakness -- some years by the stats, and others in his head. Garcia came to this year’s Players with his putting a mess. He’s experimented with three different putters this week, although he broke one and tossed it in the garbage so he’s down to two now. He’s also experimented with two different putting grips this week alone. So it’s an understatement to say he was searching for answers up on the green. The stats before the final round bore that out:

But he’s got it rolling a bit in the final round, playing a near-perfect front nine and going out in 33 to take a two-shot lead at 11-under. He opened with a bogey, but quickly got that shot back at the par-5 second. He would post three straight red numbers from holes. 4 through 6 to separate himself from a clustered leaderboard that once featured a six-way tie for first. The putter has been a big part of it, including this bomb from 28 feet at the 5th:

Garcia has had multiple top 10 finishes and close calls at this venue on top of the 2008 Players title. But a part of those close calls have been collapses down the stretch. He probably should have at least another Players win -- many opine that he let Tiger Woods psyche him out of that 2013 edition, when Sergio hit three in the water on the last two holes. Now he’s on the back nine again with the lead. Here’s the leaderboard around him: