Winner’s bag: Dylan Frittelli, John Deere Classic

Tiger Woods starts the day well back at the Quicken Loans National. Does he have a low score in him for the final round?

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Coming from six behind at the start of the day, Satoshi Kodaira of Japan fires a final-round 66 to force a playoff, then birdies the third extra hole to defeat Si Woo Kim of Korea. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Kodaira followed a second-round 63 with an even more impressive 66 two days later in windy weather, breaking through at scenic Harbour Town. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Yes, Kodaira’s victory was surprising, even to him. For one thing, when he speaks of Japan’s most famous player, five-time PGA TOUR winner Hideki Matsuyama, Kodaira still speaks with the reverence Wayne and Garth once reserved for Aerosmith. “Hideki is a great player,� said Kodaira, who is in fact two years older than Matsuyama. “And of course I’m not as good as him, but I’m getting closer.� Before Harbour Town, Kodaira had missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard; finished 54th at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and T59 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play; and peaked with a T28 at the Masters. His results hardly seemed to indicate that this was coming, and he came into the RBC ranked 46th in the world. (He’s up to 27th. Matsuyama is eighth.) On the other hand, Japan Golf Tour fans were perhaps less shocked. Kodaira, 28, is a six-time winner on that tour, and has also collected three second-place finishes, and five thirds. 2. Runner-up Si Woo Kim moved up 24 spots to 26th in the FedExCup, and he played some great shots under pressure. Alas, he had a bad putting day at exactly the wrong time. Many will look back on Kim’s missed birdie from 6 feet, 4 inches on the last hole of regulation, but that was part of a larger nine-hole stretch on the back nine in which he could not buy a birdie. Also, don’t forget that Kim would have still won by two had he not incurred a two-shot penalty for wiping sand off the green between his ball and the 14th hole Friday. Amazingly, despite a triple bogey there, he still shot a second-round 65. Silver lining: He’s rounding into form nicely for his title defense at THE PLAYERS Championship next month. “Even though I’m not an American player,� he said at Harbour Town, “I’m just incredibly grateful to see some of these fans cheering my name and cheering for me in the playoff.� 3. Luke List just keeps on knocking on the door, and as he said afterward, it seems likely to open for him sometime soon. The Vanderbilt product admittedly wasn’t sharp in the final round, but he still gave himself an excellent chance to join the playoff by parking his approach shot to 10 feet, 3 inches on the last hole of regulation. He missed, his face a picture of agony, and signed for a 1-over 72 to finish T3. The bigger picture, though, shows a positive trajectory: in 16 starts this season, List has nine top-25 finishes, including four top 10s. His best: a playoff runner-up to Justin Thomas at The Honda Classic. List, who is originally from Seattle but plays out of Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, Calif., moved from 20th to 11th in the FedExCup. 4. Ian Poulter finally ran out of gas, which was understandable given the run he’s been on, a six-week stretch of tournament play that began at the Valspar Championship outside Tampa. Poulter made a run to the quarterfinals at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play; won the Houston Open to earn a last-second Masters invite; and while he did little besides make the cut at Augusta National, he built a one-stroke lead through 54 holes at Harbour Town. Alas, after a 47-hole stretch without a bogey earlier in the tournament, Poulter shot a 4-over 75 to finish 9 under and T7, making five of his six bogeys on the inward nine holes. Still, it’s worth remembering Poulter came into last year’s RBC Heritage at 210 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He came into this one 31st, and is now 29th. Oh, and don’t look now, but it’s a Ryder Cup year. 5. Harbour Town was the week’s big winner, as usual. The 7,099-yard, par-71 stood its ground as the field averaged 70.847 for the week, and 12-under was good enough to get into the playoff. The par-3 14th hole gave players fits, and all week players commented on how the layout was proof that one need not build a course to be 8,000 yards long to create a challenge. “The fairways sometimes aren’t quite good enough,� Poulter said. “You have to hit the right or left half of them. And it’s a great test of golf. … It’s a very clever course. It’s not the longest one we play, but it’s probably the smartest one.� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Kodaira became the third player to win a TOUR event this season after opening with a 73. Jason Day (Farmers Insurance Open) and Poulter (Houston Open) were the first two. Kodaira collected his first win in his 15th PGA TOUR start, and his longest made putt of the week, of 24 feet, 6 inches, came as he closed out Kim on the third playoff hole (17). 2. Kodaira separated himself from the field on his approach shots. He averaged 29 feet, 6 inches on his approaches, which was nearly six feet closer than the field (35 feet, 5 inches) and was the third best average proximity to the hole by a winner on TOUR this season. His third-round 63 marked the fourth round of 63 or better by a winner at the RBC. Peter Lonard went for 62 in the first round of the 2005 RBC, while Loren Roberts (round three, 1996) and Jim Furyk (round four, 2015) also shot 63 in winning efforts. 3. Since 2007, seven of the 11 RBC Heritage champions have qualified for the TOUR Championship. Kodaira said it has always been his dream to play the PGA TOUR, and verbally accepted membership Sunday. Should he formally do so, he would earn a two-year membership with his win, carrying him through the 2019-20 season. And his non-member FedExCup points would transfer over to the member list. Should he accept TOUR membership, his win would also get him into THE PLAYERS Championship, Fort Worth Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, The National, and the PGA Championship. For next season, he gets into the Sentry Tournament of Champions, CareerBuilder Challenge, Arnold Palmer Invitational, and RBC Heritage. 4. Harbour Town’s small greens highlighted the importance of good iron play. Kodaira was seventh in the field in strokes gained: approach-the-green, and Kim was 12th. Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau and Luke List, who tied for third, were second and third, respectively. 5. There were six bogey-free rounds Thursday, nine Friday, three Saturday, and none Sunday. TOP THREE VIDEOS

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Webb Simpson didn’t miss anything except the island green. On the verge of shattering the course record Friday at TPC Sawgrass — even a 59 was in play — Simpson hit sand wedge into the water on the notorious par-3 17th and made double bogey that ruined his round, but not his day at THE PLAYERS Championship. He still tied the record with a 9-under 63, and he had a five-shot lead, the largest in the 45 years of this tournament. “It wasn’t a mistake,” Simpson said. “Just the wrong club.” He was in no mood to let that sour his mood. Simpson simply couldn’t miss, whether it was a 35-foot eagle putt on his second hole or a 30-foot birdie putt up the slope and into the cup on the 15th . At that point, all he could do was laugh. And then he reached the 17th, playing 147 yards to a back pin, the light wind playing tricks with him. He kept backing off, trying to decide between sand wedge and pitching wedge. He said a few fans were telling him to hit it. The ball hit the wooden frame on the front of the green, caromed high in the air and landed on the back of the green with so much momentum that it rolled through the light collar of rough and disappeared into the water. “Everything is going in,” he said. “You feel like no matter what, you’re going to make it, and I grew up on an easy golf course so it reminded me of being back home, shooting low numbers. But at the same time, you’re at the TPC Sawgrass, so you know that trouble is everywhere, as you guys saw with me on 17.” And it will be there over the next two rounds. Simpson was the seventh player to shoot 63 on the Stadium Course — five since 2013 — and his 15-under 129 tied the 36-hole record set two years ago by Jason Day. Charl Schwartzel (66), Patrick Cantlay (68) and Danny Lee (66) were five shots behind. Tiger Woods at least gets to return on the weekend. He made the cut on the number (1-under 143) after a 71 in the easier morning conditions. Woods was outside the cut line until Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas each made bogey on the 18th. Spieth three-putted from 35 feet, though he shot 68 and ended three straight years missing the cut. Rory McIlroy wasn’t so fortunate. He was inside the cut line until hitting into the water on the 17th and making double bogey. Conditions were ideal for scoring for the second straight day. Simpson took that to another level. He ended the front nine with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth for a one-shot lead, and then he took off. Starting with an up-and-down at the par-5 11th, Simpson ran off six straight birdies — three straight from the 20-foot range, the most unlikely birdie with the one from behind the 15th green, and another up-and-down from left the of the green on the par-5 16th. Spieth was 5 under on his round through 11 holes and wondered if he had the low round of the day. And then he saw a leaderboard. “It was just amazing,” said Spieth, who played with McIlroy and Thomas. “We were talking about it throughout the round, all three of us. We were like, `Man, I hope he shoots 59.’ And at the same time, we’re saying if he shoots 59, can you imagine how hard the setup is going to be tomorrow?” The real challenge will be catching Simpson. Only three other players have led by as many as three shots through 36 holes at THE PLAYERS — Lanny Wadkins (3) in 1979, Greg Norman (3) in 1994 and Day (4) in 2016. All of them went on to win. “If you’re off a little bit, you make bogeys or double bogeys as easy as you can make birdies,” Simpson said. “I don’t think any lead is safe. … There’s no defensiveness in my game tomorrow.” Schwartzel never came close to a bogey, only missing two greens, and just barely. Cantlay only had one bad swing and one bad break, both on the par-5 ninth, that led to bogey. Lee shot a 31 on the back nine with a double bogey on the 11th hole. Simpson left them all in his wake. “The most entertaining golf in our group was watching Webb’s score,” said Justin Rose, who played behind Simpson and shot 72. “It’s a miracle round. To be 11-under par, it’s a shame he doesn’t finish it off. But 17 is a hard hole to get through. I’m sure he was nervous playing that hole. We’re all nervous playing that hole, but an 11-under par round, that green I’m sure looks even smaller.” Woods had wedges in his hand on his opening three holes and never got it close for birdie, and it was like that all day. He was in the feature pairing with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, and Woods was the only one to make the cut. Mickelson went 79-73 and missed the cut for the fifth time in the last six years. Fowler was in good shape until losing a ball in a tree on the sixth hole for the first of consecutive double bogeys. He shot 71 and missed by two shots.

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