PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It was a tie for the course record almost no one noticed.
While eventual Players champion Cameron Smith was holding off Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson was raining birdies and one spectacular eagle on the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Monday, becoming the ninth in history to shoot 9-under 63.
Johnson finished in a tie for ninth at 7-under 281, his second top-10 at The Players in three years. He also jumped 50 spots on the leaderboard. A tie for ninth earned him $525,000. A tie for 60 was good for $44,600.
Johnson began the day at No. 10 and in a tie for 59th place following a third-round 76. He birdied Nos. 12, 16 and 18, and his only bogey of the day came at No. 15 after visiting the rough on the left side off the tee and into the green.
He then turned and really stepped on the gas.
Johnson birdied No. 1 on a 23-foot putt and made up for a sloppy performance at the par-5 second by draining a 42-footer for birdie.
He added birdie putts of 13 feet or less at Nos. 3, 6 and 7, then closed the day by holing a 67-yard wedge shot for eagle at No. 9.
Walk-off eagle‼️@DJohnsonPGA ties @THEPLAYERSChamp record for the low 18-hole score.
It’s the ninth 63 in tournament history. pic.twitter.com/jiEiEkix83
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2022
Johnson tied Martin Kaymer’s 2014 record of 7-under 29 on the front nine. The last 63 was by Brooks Koepka in 2018. Johnson hit 10 fairways, 15 greens and needed only 25 putts.
“Played solid really,” he said in typical understatement. “Rolled in a few putts … obviously to pitch it in on the last was definitely a bonus.”
Johnson said tying the course record would have meant more if he was in contention.
“It was a tough week. I just made too many mistakes, from the fairway, too,” he said. “It wasn’t even when I got out of position. I hit too many bad iron shots from the fairway. I’ve got a little work to do still on the game, but obviously, it’s in there, just need to get it a little more consistent.”
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Still no repeat winner
Justin Thomas, who was on the fringes of contention most of the week, shot his second 72 in a row Monday and tied for 33rd at 3-under 285. The 2021 champion got as high as a tie for 11th following his bogey-free 69 in the second round but made a double bogey in each of his last rounds.
Thomas had an eagle on a 29-foot putt at the 16th hole but then hit into the water at No. 17 for a triple.
The best finishes by defending champions remain ties for fifth by Jack Nicklaus (1977), Tom Kite (1990) and Hal Sutton (2000). Nicklaus finished four shots behind Mark Hayes and Kite and Sutton were seven off the final winner’s score.
Mark McCumber tied for sixth in 1989 and was four shots back.
Azinger record safe
When Smith missed a 35-foot birdie putt attempt on the fifth hole during his final round, it snapped a streak of four birdies in a row and ended a bid to become the first player to birdie the first five holes in a row when beginning his round at No. 1 at the Players Championship.
One player has birdied the first five in succession: Paul Azinger in the first round in 1993. Azinger began his round at No. 10 that day and birdied No. 18, then turned and birdied the first five. It got Azinger in the record book as one of 11 players in tournament history to birdie six holes in a row.
Azinger shot 68 that day and tied for sixth in the tournament.
Henley makes history
Russell Henley became the sixth player to make an albatross when he flew his second shot into the hole at No. 11 from 240 yards out during the final round.
He wasn’t done, as he became the first in Players history to make an albatross and an eagle in the same round.
Henley, who began his final round at No. 10, then made a 35-foot birdie putt at No. 17 from the second cut of rough. He then eagled the par-5 second hole on a putt of nearly 38 feet, after hitting the green from 256 yards out.
Henley shot 68 and tied for 13th at 6-under 282.
Pendrith leads Players rookies
Taylor Pendrith, a native of Canada, was lowest among first-time Players participants. He birdied his first two holes and to briefly take a peek at the top-10, and finished with a 69 and a tie for 13th at 6-under 282.
Four other Players rookies made the cut. Hank Lebioda tied for 63rd (4-over), Hayden Buckley tied for 66th (5-over), Lucas Herbert tied for 68th (7-over) and Lee Hodges finished 70th (9-over.
Hodges, who was alone in last place, earned $41,000. That was more than Bruce Lietzke got for finishing fourth in the first Players at the Stadium Course in 1982.
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