Winds of change: McIlroy slips in Kiawah return

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Let's try this again. For the second straight Sunday on the PGA TOUR, Lee Westwood (68, 13 under) and Bryson DeChambeau (67, 11 under) will make up the last group on the last day at THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. "Really looking forward to it," said Westwood, who made nine straight pars to start his third round but made four back-nine birdies. "I enjoy playing with him. I enjoy his company and his caddie's company. It's like round two, the rematch." RELATED: Full leaderboard | Inside THE PLAYERS’ greatest comeback | 20-year anniversary of ‘Better Than Most’ Westwood, 47, will be vying for what he said would be the biggest victory of his career, one that has seen him rack up 42 worldwide victories - including two TOUR wins - but no majors. DeChambeau, 27, would be the first FedExCup leader to win here since Tiger Woods (2013). The final twosome will have plenty of accomplished players behind them. A resurgent Justin Thomas (64) and first-timer Dough Ghim (68) are at 10 under, just three back, while Paul Casey (67) - who made the cut here for just the fifth time in 13 starts - Jon Rahm (67) and Brian Harman (69) are also right in the thick of it at 9 under, four behind. It's the Westwood-DeChambeau reprisal, though, that has people talking. Westwood went into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last Sunday with a one-shot lead over DeChambeau, who wound up beating him by a shot. This time the leader Westwood, who will turn 48 next month and would be the second oldest PLAYERS Champion (Fred Funk, 2005), will take a two-shot cushion into Sunday. "Well, in junior golf," DeChambeau said, when asked when he'd last gone head-to-head with the same player in two consecutive tournaments. "That’s about it. But it was the same couple guys." In the ShotLink era (2003) the only other time the same two players have gone head-to-head in the final group in two straight stroke-play events on TOUR was when Adam Scott and Vijay Singh battled for the 2006 TOUR Championship and '07 Sentry Tournament of Champions. Asked what stands out about Westwood after playing with him a week ago, DeChambeau, who ranks eighth in Strokes Gained: Approach The Green through three rounds, didn't hesitate to cite Westwood's girlfriend and caddie, fitness instructor Helen Storey. "She’s keeping him steady and level-headed," he said, "and she’s a rock. Keeps his mind focused on the right things, and she’s been awesome for him. That’s one of his secret weapons, I think." Westwood elaborated. "Yeah, I think at my stage of my career, there’s not a lot a caddie can tell me," he said, "but obviously Helen gets me in a fantastic mood out there, and psychologically she can help me and say the things that I need to hear. She helps me in that aspect an immeasurable amount." As for what impresses him about DeChambeau, Westwood mentioned versatility. Bay Hill, he said, is a different sort of course, allowing a player to "open up the shoulders" and hit the long ball. The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, where hazards lurk seemingly everywhere? Not so much. "Credit to Bryson," said Westwood, who is one for six in converting 54-hole leads/co-leads into victories on TOUR. "You wouldn't association this golf course with his style of game." Not that the Stadium Course is a bad fit, he clarified. It's just not as good a fit as Bay Hill. "But he's up there," Westwood said. "It just shows he can adapt his game." Westwood is seeking to win in his 15th start at THE PLAYERS, which would match the most starts by a first-time winner in tournament history (Tom Kite, 1989; Funk, '05). DeChambeau is seeking to become the fourth to win the week immediately preceding a victory at THE PLAYERS, and first since Woods in 2001. "Definitely not a two-horse race," said Westwood, who had five top-10 finishes in 14 starts here coming into this week. "And this golf course is one of the hardest to front-run on, as well." One hazard neither Westwood nor DeChambeau will encounter Sunday: a lack of familiarity with their playing partner.

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Sebastian Munoz saw the tough weather conditions on the way to The RSM Classic and figured all he could do was keep his head down and make birdies. He wound up with a 10-under 60 to shatter his career round by six shots. RELATED: Leaderboard | Jordan Spieth and wife welcome first child Scoring was so low Thursday at Sea Island that all that got Munoz was a one-shot lead. The Colombian, who won his first PGA TOUR event just over two years ago, birdied his final hole at Seaside. He led by one stroke over Sea Island member Zach Johnson at Seaside, while three other players were one shot behind. Past champion Mackenzie Hughes, Chez Reavie and Scott Stallings each had a 9-under 63 on the Plantation course. Four players were tied at 8 under, led by Canadian Corey Conners (62 at Seaside). His wife, Malory, gave birth last week to their first child, a girl named Reis. Jhonattan Vegas, Talor Gooch and Russell Henley shot 64 at Plantation. Scoring was so ideal that 33 players shot 66 or lower on the two courses, located just off the Atlantic Ocean, and all but 21 players in the field of 156 broke par. The cumulative score in relation to par at the Seaside Course was 288 under, 42 shots lower than the previous record set in 2018. The scoring average of 66.308 at the Seaside was a tournament record, and the second-lowest for any round on the PGA TOUR since 1983, when the TOUR began tracking hole-by-hole data. The record is 66.28 at Indian Wells in the 2003 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Munoz matched Tommy Gainey’s 2012 record for low round at Seaside; Hughes, Stallings and Reavie tied for low round at the Plantation set last year by winner Robert Streb and Bronson Burgoon. A warm, sunny day that began with just enough light rain to soften the already pure greens is expected to morph into more common November weather on the Georgia coast Friday with a drop of about 10 degrees in the temperature and wind forecast to gust as high as 30 mph. “When you’ve got just absolute pure conditions weather-wise and pure conditions on the golf course — the best I’ve ever seen these two golf courses, period — you know you’ve got to get after it,” said the 45-year-old Johnson, who hit all 18 greens. “It was a perfect day and we all knew it (low scores) was out there,” added Cameron Smith, who had a 66 at the Seaside. Munoz, however, was staying in the present for his best round as a professional. He hit 11 fairways and 16 greens, made six birdies on the front nine and punctuated the day with a 12-foot eagle putt at No. 15 and a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 18. “I felt great yesterday playing the pro-am, basically the same weather for two days, so I knew I was hitting it good,” he said. “I just let it happen.” And for tomorrow? “I haven’t really looked at the forecast,” he said. “I don’t know how much it’s going to blow tomorrow or if it’s going to be cold or not, so I’m just kind of here right now and I’ll adjust tomorrow and see what happens.” Johnson was the only player who had a reasonable shot at a sub-60 round. He was 9 under through 15 holes after making a 7-footer for birdie at No. 15 and missed birdie attempts of 10, 20 and 25 feet on the final three holes. “It hit me (the chance to shoot 59) after I birdied 12 and 13 and I got to 8 under,” Johnson said. “Making birdie on 15, I was like, ‘Well, two more and I’m right there.’ I gave myself looks, pretty good looks and that’s all you can hope for.” Johnson also had a shot at 59 in the TOUR Championship in 2007 until hitting into a bunker on the par-3 18th hole at East Lake and having to settle for par and a 60. Johnson and playing partners Matt Kuchar (65) and Joel Dahmen (65) didn’t make a bogey.

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