SB Nation Denver - The Players Championship 2012: Martin Laird Takes 2nd Place At TPC Sawgrass

The Players Championship 2012 Winner: Matt Kuchar Wins At TPC Sawgrass By 2 Strokes

2012-05-13T23:12:58Z

Matt Kuchar picked up his fourth career PGA Tour victory on Sunday when his 13-under score gave him the victory at the 2012 Players Championship, the biggest win of his career. He previously won the Honda Classic (2002), the Turning Stone Resort Championship (2009) and the Barclays (2010).

At the Barclays, Kuchar defeated Martin Laird for the victory there. At TPC Sawgrass on Sunday, Kuchar held off Laird by two strokes. There were four tied for second place at 11-under.

Kuchar had reach 14-under, but a bogey on Hole 17 dropped him to 13-under. In all, Kuchar made four birdies and two bogeys on Sunday.

Laird, a Colorado St. alum, gave Kuchar and the rest a good fight on Sunday with a 5-under final round. However, bogies on Holes 14 and 18 saw him lose a tie for the lead and then ultimately sole possession of second place (he made birdie on 16 to temporarily move back to 12-under).

Here is a look at the top 10 (complete leaderboard here):

Pos.	Name	Total	R4	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total Strokes
1	Matt Kuchar	-13	-2	68	68	69	70	275
T2	Martin Laird	-11	-5	65	73	72	67	277
T2	Zach Johnson	-11	-4	70	66	73	68	277
T2	Rickie Fowler	-11	-2	72	69	66	70	277
T2	Ben Curtis	-11	-4	68	71	70	68	277
6	Luke Donald	-9	-6	72	69	72	66	279
T7	Bo Van Pelt	-8	-3	71	70	70	69	280
T7	Jhonattan Vegas	-8	-2	68	74	68	70	280
T7	Kevin Na	-8	4	67	69	68	76	280
T10	David Toms	-7	-7	69	74	73	65	281

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The Players Championship 2012 Leaderboard: Martin Laird In Position To Win

2012-05-13T20:52:28Z

Former Colorado St. Rams golfer Martin Laird is back in position to win the 2012 Players Championship on Sunday evening. Currently, he is at 11-under, putting him in a dead tie with Matt Kuchar for the lead.

Laird made birdies on Holes 2, 7 and 9 before making the turn. He then shaved two more strokes off his score with birdies on Holes 11 and 12. Kuchar is at even-par for the day after eight holes.

Kevin Na led when the round began, but he's shot 2-over and is at 10-under for the tournament.

The best rounds of the day so far belong to Bob Estes and David Toms, who each shot 7-under. That is Toms' final score, too, while Estes is at 5-under.

Here is the current top 10:

Pos.	Name	Total	Hole	Round
T1	Martin Laird	-11	12	-5
T1	Matt Kuchar	-11	8	E
3	Kevin Na	-10	8	2
T4	Luke Donald	-9	F	-6
T4	Zach Johnson	-9	10	-2
T6	Carl Pettersson	-8	14	-4
T6	Bo Van Pelt	-8	13	-3
T6	Rickie Fowler	-8	9	1
T9	David Toms	-7	F	-7
T9	Jonathan Byrd	-7	11	-1

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2012 Players Championship Leaderboard: David Toms Charges Up Leaderboard; Tiger Woods Struggles

2012-05-13T18:32:25Z

The 2012 Players Championship has begun its fourth and final round, but leader Kevin Na doesn't tee off until 12:45 p.m. MT. David Toms has made a leap on the leaderboard, firing off a 7-under for the day. He began the day at even-par. Unless Na implodes during the final round, Toms won't have chance at taking victory in this one.

Tiger Woods has shot 3-over for the day and is 1-over for the tournament. He is through 13 holes. Phil Mickelson is having a 2-under round so far and has moved him up to 6-under. That put him in a temporary tie with Martin Laird, who had just started his final round. However, Laird made birdie on Hole No. 2 to move to 7-under.

Here is the current top 10:

Pos	Name	Total	Hole	Round
1	Kevin Na	-12	12:45pm	N/A
2	Matt Kuchar	-11	12:45pm	N/A
3	Rickie Fowler	-9	12:34pm	N/A
T4	David Toms	-7	F	-7
T4	Martin Laird	-7	2	-1
T4	Ben Curtis	-7	12:34pm	N/A
T4	Zach Johnson	-7	--	--
T8	Phil Mickelson	-6	5	-2
T8	Charlie Wi	-6	3	-1
T8	Bo Van Pelt	-6	3	-1

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2012 Players Championship: Tee Times, Pairings, TV Schedule For Sunday

2012-05-13T12:01:02Z

Martin Laird enters the final day of the 2012 Players Championship six strokes behind leader Kevin Na, who currently stands atop the leaderboard at 12-under. Laird shot even-par in Round 3 to remain at 6-under for the tournament, which means he needs to have the round of his life or a collapse by those in front of him to win at Sawgrass. Or maybe some combination of both.

Tiger Woods also shot even-par on Saturday and is at 2-under. Phil Mickelson is in slightly better shape at 4-under and going 2-under in Round 3.

The Golf Channel begins coverage at 10:00 a.m. MT and lasts until noon. At that point, NBC will have live coverage until a winner emerges.

Here are the start times for all of the golfers listed as top 10 or better (full tee times here):

Time (MT)	Players
11:39 a.m.	Charlie Wi	Sergio Garcia
11:50 a.m.	Bo Van Pelt	Blake Adams
12:01 p.m.	Martin Laird	Johnson Wagner
12:12 p.m.	Brian Davis	Jonathan Byrd
12:23 p.m.	Zach Johnson	Jhonattan Verg
12:34 p.m.	Rickie Fowler	Ben Curtis
12:45 p.m.	Kevin Na	Matt Kuchar

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The Players Championship 2012 Leaderboard: Martin Laird Falls 5 Strokes Behind

2012-05-12T20:32:31Z

Martin Laird's run at the top of the 2012 Players Championship hasn't quite died yet, but it isn't fully resuscitated yet, either. Through his first nine holes, Laird sits at 5-under after nine holes, putting him five strokes behind leader Rickie Fowler.

Laird started the day at 6-under and made his first bogey of the round on Hole No. 3. He had two more bogeys on Holes 5 and 7, but he squeezed in a birdie on Hole No. 6. He finished the ninth hole with a birdie on the par-5 challenge.

Rickie Fowler has fired off a 7-under for the round to take a 10-under overall. Matt Kuchar and Kevin Na trail by one stroke each.

Here is the current top 10:

Pos.	Name	Overall	Hole	Round
1	Rickie Fowler	-10	17	-7
T2	Matt Kuchar	-9	8	-1
T2	Kevin Na	-9	7	-1
T4	Ben Curtis	-7	12	-2
T4	Zach Johnson	-7	7	1
T6	Jhonattan Vegas	-6	F	-4
T6	Brian Davis	-6	11	E
T6	Charlie Wi	-6	9	E
T9	Johnson Wagner	-5	F	-3
T9	Jimmy Walker	-5	14	-2

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Players Championship 2012 Leaderboard Update: Fowler Makes Charge

2012-05-12T18:26:39Z

Although Colorado St. alum Martin Laird has just started his round, he has to be encouraged by some of the low scores that have been played in the third round of the 2012 Players Championship, as guys like Rickie Fowler, Jhonattan Vegas and Sergio Garcia have put together impressive rounds.

Fowler has been the story of the third round thanks to his scorching play. Through nine holes, Fowler is shooting -4 and has moved into a tie for 4th and is just one stroke behind the leaders, who sit at -8. Vegas caught fire early as well, shooting -3 through his first 10 holes to move into a tie for 12th at -5. Garcia shot -4 this afternoon to move into a tie for 16th.

With Zach Johnson, Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar set to tee off, it will be interesting to see if the leaders heading into the third round can capitalize on strong playing conditions and maintain their lead heading into the final round.

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Players Championship 2012: Tee Times, Pairings, TV Schedule For Saturday

2012-05-12T11:30:01Z

Martin Laird is searching for his best finish of the season this weekend at TPC Sawgrass in the 2012 Players Championship. Laird begins Round 3 in a five-way tie for fifth place at 6-under. Had he not made two bogeys and one double-bogey over the final three hole of the day, Laird would have found himself atop the leaderboard by himself and with a two-stroke lead.

As it stands now, Laird is two strokes behind Zach Johnson, Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar, all tied at 8-under. Harris English is right behind that group at 7-under.

Laird is paired with Charlie Wi (6-under) and the two will tee off at 12:13 p.m. MT.

Coverage for this round begins at 10:00 a.m. MT on the Golf Channel and then will shift over to NBC at noon MT. That broadcast will last until 5:00 p.m. MT.

Here are some notable tee times (full tee times here):

Time (MT)	Players
9:25 AM	Keegan Bradley	Tiger Woods
9:35 AM	Phil Mickelson	Bob Estes
10:15 AM	Ian Poulter	Rickie Fowler
10:25 AM	Tim Clark	Nick Watney
10:56 AM	Luke Donald	Lee Westwood
11:07 AM	Jimmy Walker	Bo Van Pelt
11:29 AM	Blake Adams	Michael Thompson
12:13 PM	Charlie Wi	Martin Laird
12:24 PM	Matt Kuchar	Harris English
12:35 PM	Zach Johnson	Kevin Na

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The Players Championship 2012 Leaderboard: Martin Laird Tied For 5th After 2nd Round

2012-05-12T00:21:15Z

After a sharp opening-round 65 in the TPC at Sawgrass on Thursday, Colorado State alum Martin Laird struggled during round two -- more specifically, he struggled on the back nine of Friday's round. After a two-under front nine performance, Laird held sole possession of first place. But he had a rough finish, going bogie, double bogie, bogie on 16, 17 and 18, respectively. He ended the day at -6 in a five-way tie for fifth place. But he is just two strokes off the lead.

Here is a look at the leaderboard:

T1. Zach Johnson -8
T1. Kevin Na -8
T1. Matt Kuchar -8
4. Harris English -7
T5. Martin Laird -6
T5. Adam Scott -6
T5. Jonathan Byrd -6
T5. Brian Davis -6
T5. Charlie Wi -6
T10. Kevin Stadler -5
T10. Bill Haas -5
T10. Ben Curtis -5
T10. Blake Adams -5
T10. Michael Thompson -5

Elsewhere in the field, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are both two-under; both players made the cut, which was set at even par. Rory McIlroy (+4) is among the notables who did not make it to the weekend.

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