Lewis’ unexpected windfall spells good fortune for Harvey victims

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Alex Noren (+17500) ... The last time THE PLAYERS Championship was contested, he was inside the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He also was on his way to finishing outside the top 125 of the FedExCup. That was in 2019. Today, and in a rare alignment of measurements, he's 94th in both the OWGR and the FedExCup standings. This season, the 38-year-old has rallied for a quartet of top 20s but no better than a T12 at Riviera three weeks ago. Still much better closest to the hole, the Swede has defied the customary formula for success with two top 20s in three trips to TPC Sawgrass, first with a solo 10th in his debut in 2017, and then with a T17 the following year. Emiliano Grillo (+12500) ... After he was positioned No. 1 in my Power Rankings for the Puerto Rico Open, he finished T11. He then placed T21 at Bay Hill on the strength of one of his best performances with his putter in some time, and that's not an insignificant reversal of form with that club. The 28-year-old from Argentina remains one of the PGA TOUR's best tee to green - he's sixth in greens hit and 10th in ball-striking - and he's 3-for-3 at TPC Sawgrass since 2017 with a solo 11th-place finish to ignite that burst, so the converging trends are three-fold as it concerns form, fit and course history. Brian Harman (+15000) ... Just one top 10 among three top 25s in 13 starts this season, but he's T3 on TOUR with 34 red numbers (in 50 rounds) and 28th in adjusted scoring. It's evidence for how he's missed only one cut, but what's unexplainable is how his only short week was at home at Sea Island! That aside, he arrived for his ninth start at TPC Sawgrass with the kind of form that he doesn't need to find on the unyielding track. The lefty also has recorded a pair of T8s here since 2015. Brendan Steele (+22500) ... Continues to overcome a putter that otherwise would thwart better intentions, but that he's 6-for-6 in 2021 with three top 25s on efficient tee-to-green work supports why he could linger this week. Currently T8 in total driving, T45 in greens in regulation, 20th in ball-striking and 33rd in proximity for the season. He also placed T6 at TPC Sawgrass in 2017 and he's making his 10th start, so the 37-year-old checks all the right boxes. Harold Varner III (+20000) ... He's scattered four top 25s in 2020-21, the latest a T21 at Bay Hill where he ranked T20 in total driving, T9 in greens hit and 17th in Strokes Gained: Putting. It's a fair cross section of his talent as he doesn't wow in any part of his game, but he's on the positive side in all Strokes Gained metrics and slots T27 in SG: Tee-to-Green this season. When he finished T7 at TPC Sawgrass in 2018, he led the field in converting half of his scoring opportunities. This is his fifth consecutive appearance. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, March 9 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. CO, IA, IN,MI, NJ, NV,PA, TN, VA or WV only. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO, NV, VA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI), 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, PA & WV), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), Call or Text the Tennessee REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN), or call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN).

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Cameron Smith made the longest week at THE PLAYERS Championship worth the wait. In a dynamic conclusion to five days of bad weather and high drama, Smith one-putted eight of his last nine holes with his pure stroke and delivered one of the gutsiest shots of his career for the cushion he needed to win. RELATED: Final leaderboard | What’s in Smith’s bag? Leading by two on the par-3 17th hole, 135 yards to the hole on an island green, Smith split the difference in the 12 feet that separated the flag from the water. The ball ended up 4 feet away and the Australian made his record-tying 10th birdie of the round. Turns out he needed it. Smith punched out from the pine straw right of the 18th fairway all the way into the water. After a penalty drop, his 60-yard wedge spun next to the hole to 3 feet for a bogey and a 6-under 66, giving him a one-shot victory over Anirban Lahiri of India. Lahiri, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, birdied the 17th and needed one more to force a playoff. He came up short of the green, and his pitch was below the cup all the way. He closed with a 69. Paul Casey shot 69 and was the victim of a horrible break on the 16th hole when he was in position to edge closer to the lead. Smith, who finished at 13-under 275, won for the second time this year, and the fifth time in his PGA TOUR career, and picked up $3.6 million from the $20 million purse, the richest in golf. He earned a staggering 600 FedExCup points. This was about more than money, more than the three-year exemption he earned to the four majors and a five-year exemption on the PGA TOUR. This was as much about family. Smith, so unflappable in the tense pressure that featured 26 holes on Monday, choked up when he talked about his mother and sister, whom he had not seen more than two years because of travel restrictions Down Under during the pandemic. Smith makes his home down the road in Jacksonville Beach, and he happily went to the airport this week for a special reunion. They watched him capture the crown jewel of the PGA TOUR. “It’s really cool to have them here,” Smith said. “My main priority was to hang out with them. Golf was second. It’s nice to see them and nice to get a win for them.” Lahiri’s only big mistake was a tee shot into a palmetto bush on the par-3 eighth, forcing him to take a drop near the concession area that led to double bogey. It was the only shot he dropped all day, and his best finish on the PGA TOUR came with a $2.18 million consolation prize. Casey, meanwhile, was the victim of bad luck. He was two shots behind and in the same group as Smith when he looked to have a big advantage on the par-5 16th. Smith duck-hooked his tee shot into the pines. Casey drilled his drive down the middle. But the ball took one last roll in the rain-soaked fairway, right into another player’s pitch mark. Instead of a mid-iron into the par 5, he had to punch it out short. Then, he was inches away from getting relief from a sprinkler head near the green and had to scramble for par. Smith punched out to the fairway and matched the par. They headed to the 17th, where Smith’s 9-iron was bolder than he wanted. “I’d be lying if I didn’t push it a little bit,” he said. No matter. He got the birdie, got the win and moved to No. 6 in the world. So concluded a week like no other on the TPC Sawgrass, where so much rain early in the week meant the first round lasted 54 hours and 16 minutes, finishing on Saturday morning. The wind that followed wreaked havoc on half the field. The bone-chilling temperatures Sunday made it tough on everyone. It was the first Monday finish since 2005 at THE PLAYERS. Smith made it memorable for so many other reasons. Kevin Kisner birdied three of his last four holes for a 68 to finish alone in fourth. Kisner is famous for once saying 20th place pays pretty good. So does fourth place at the TOUR’s premier event. He earned $980,000. Keegan Bradley was among four players who had a chance over the last hour. He was one shot behind after a birdie on the 16th, only to three-putt the 17th from the front of the green to a back pin, and then took double bogey on the 18th when his punch shot from the trees came out hot and ended up in the water. He shot 68 and finished fifth.

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