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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Justin Thomas walked into the locker room at the TPC Sawgrass just like has done for the last seven years, with one interruption in his routine.
His memory told him to peel off to the right. Then he remembered one of the perks from winning The Players Championship last year, and he went left into the small locker area reserved only for champions.
“A nice adjustment that I’ll be able to make going forward,” he said.
There are other perks this year, starting with the direct deposit into players’ accounts at the end of the week. The premier event of the strongest tour in golf now offers the richest purse at $20 million, with $3.6 million going to the winner.
The top three places pay out seven figures. Someone can finish out of the top 10 and still make more than $500,000.
What hasn’t changed is the fickle nature of The Players Championship. The TPC Sawgrass, whether it’s held in March or May, is known not to favor any one particular style of game, whether it’s power like Thomas, Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy, or precision like Matt Kuchar or Webb Simpson.
“You look at the winners, and it’s crazy,” Thomas said. “It’s truly a place that I don’t think it favors one shot shape. … It’s just whoever decides to go out and get it the best that week.”
Thomas has one piece of history to overcome. No one has won back-to-back in The Players Championship, whether it was held at Atlanta Country Club or Colonial, across the street at wind-whipped Sawgrass Country Club or the Stadium Course, where it has been held for the last 40 years.
Woods and Sergio Garcia went from a runner-up finish to victory the following year, and that’s about as close as it gets.
Thomas took the advice of Alabama coach Nick Saban in approaching the week. He’s not defending anything just because he won.
“I’m just going to go try to win it again,” he said.
Different about this week is that players might actually carry an umbrella. In a most unusual start to the year,…
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Source : yahoo
