J.J. Spaun is 18 holes away from what would be the biggest win of his career.
Spaun posted a 2-under 70 on Saturday to jump into the solo lead at The Players Championship while several other big names — including the two who shared the lead to start the day — stumbled. He’ll enter the final round at 12-under on the week.
Spaun just barely sank a nearly 25-footer at the 18th to save his par and keep the lead. The last nine golfers to lead the field by a single stroke entering the final round at The Players Championship, however, have failed to win. Xander Schauffele was in that position last year, but he fell to Scottie Scheffler.
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Spaun has won just once on Tour in his career, back at the 2022 Valero Texas Open. He entered TPC Sawgrass ranked No. 57 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and he has a pair of top five finishes this season. He’s not missed a cut, either, though he withdrew from the WM Phoenix Open in February due to an illness.
Bud Cauley sits alone in second at 11-under with his 6-under 66, which matched the low round of the day. It’s the first time he’s been within a shot of the lead entering the final round of a Tour event since 2012. Akshay Bhatia and Min Woo Lee, who held a share of the lead to start the third round, both went over par to drop well back. Rory McIlroy is perhaps the biggest name in striking distance, but he’s still four shots back after his 1-over 73 on Saturday. Justin Thomas, who matched the course record on Friday with a historic swing, also went 1-over.
Tee times for the final round have been pushed up due to inclement weather expected in the area. Here’s everything you need to know for the final round of The Players Championship.
All times ET.
1st Tee
8 a.m. — Jesper Svensson, Aaron Rai, Keegan Bradley8:11 a.m. — Davis Riley, Justin Thomas, Justin Lower8:22 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Mac Meissner8:33 a.m. — Tom Hoge, Taylor Moore, Taylor Pendrith8:44 a.m. — Tom Kim, Daniel Berger, Denny McCarthy8:55 a.m. — Sam Ryder, Scottie Scheffler, Min Woo Lee9:06 a.m. — Chris Kirk, Davis Thompson, Robert MacIntyre9:17 a.m. — Jake Knapp, J.T. Poston, Ryan Gerard9:28 a.m. — Max McGreevy, Patrick Cantlay, Sepp Straka9:39 a.m. —Akshay Bhatia, Danny Walker, Stephan Jaeger9:50 a.m. — Alex Smalley, Corey Conners, Rory McIlroy
10:01 a.m. — J.J. Spaun, Bud Cauley, Lucas Glover
10th Tee
8 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Jordan Spieth, Joe Highsmith8:11 a.m. — Matt McCarty, Harris English, Jacob Bridgeman8:22 a.m. — Will Zalatoris, Matt Kuchar, Billy Horschel8:33 a.m. — Russell Henley, Joel Dahmen, Austin Eckroat8:44 a.m. — Hayden Springer, Beau Hossler, Shane Lowry8:55 a.m. — Camilo Villegas, Will Chandler, Chandler Phillips9:06 a.m. — Sahith Theegala, Sungjae Im, Matthieu Pavon9:17 a.m. — Ben An, Isaiah Salinda, Carson Young9:28 a.m. — Charley Hoffman, Si Woo Kim, C.T. Pan9:39 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, Rico Hoey, Kurt Kitayama9:39 a.m. — Jhonattan Vegas, Trey Mullinax, Cam Young
10:01 a.m. — Rickie Fowler, Sami Valimaki, Emiliano Grillo
The final round of The Players Championship will start on ESPN+, and NBC will pick up live coverage of the end the round on Sunday afternoon. It can also be seen on Peacock.
All times ET.
Sunday, March 16 | Final Round
- 8-10 a.m. | ESPN+
- 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Golf Channel
- 12 p.m. – conclusion of play | NBC
