Players Championship 2015: Tee Times, Pairings and Predictions for Saturday
It's safe to say the 2015 Players Championship has not gone according to script through two rounds. Kevin Na and Jerry Kelly are tied for the lead at eight under par, while Masters champion Jordan Spieth is on his way home after missing the cut.
Golf is a weird game sometimes, but there is excitement and anticipation with 36 holes left because no one seems safe. Na and Kelly will have the advantage of starting after everyone else in the final pairing, though they need to keep their momentum going after starting hot.
The big-name pairing on Saturday will feature Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy, who are tied for 13th at four under par and looking to make noise on moving day.
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Here's how the pairings look heading into the third round of the Players Championship:
| Pairing | Start Time (ET) |
| Kevin Na (-8), Jerry Kelly (-8) | 2:40 p.m. |
| Branden Grace (-6), David Hearn (-6) | 2:30 p.m. |
| Chris Kirk (-6), Rickie Fowler (-6) | 2:20 p.m. |
| Chris Stroud (-5), Bill Haas (-5) | 2:10 p.m. |
| Zach Johnson (-5), Troy Merritt (-5) | 2 p.m. |
| Ben Martin (-5), Scott Brown (-5) | 1:50 p.m. |
| Kevin Kisner (-4), Sangmoon Bae (-4) | 1:40 p.m. |
| Russell Henley (-4), Brendon Todd (-4) | 1:30 p.m. |
| Charles Howell III (-4), Jim Furyk (-4) | 1:20 p.m. |
| Brian Harman (-4), Derek Fathauer (-4) | 1:10 p.m. |
| Cameron Tringale (-4), Marc Leishman (-4) | 1 p.m. |
| Billy Horschel (-4), Rory McIlroy (-4) | 12:50 p.m. |
| Ian Poulter (-4), Ryo Ishikawa (-4) | 12:40 p.m. |
Full list of tee times can be found at PGATour.com
Saturday Predictions
There Will Be A New Leader
With all due respect to Na and Kelly, there's a reason some eyebrows would be raised if either man won the Players Championship.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Na has just one career victory in his past 286 PGA Tour events:
In addition to his lack of wins, Na had one of the most memorable collapses in recent memory at this event three years ago. He held the 54-hole lead at 12-under, proceeded to shoot a 76 on Sunday and finished tied for seventh.
Na's slow playing style can be grating to watch, but it's hard not to root for him. The 31-year-old admitted after the second round that he had to rebuild himself after that 2012 event, via ESPN.com's Jason Sobel:
"I didn't use that word, yips, but I told everyone that I couldn't take the club back. I mean, I was pretty honest. I wasn't trying to cover anything up. ... A lot of the guys, when you have that, they fall off the planet. They play poorly and nobody really sees and hears about it.
But the weird case was I was playing one of my best golf and I couldn't take the club back. And the whole world saw me do it, so, believe me, I hear enough about it.
"
All that work is starting to show, as Na has four top-10 finishes thus far in 2015 and finished a respectable 12th at the Masters. Yet there is evidence to suggest he's not completely turned the corner.
He hasn't shot under 70 on the weekend at an event since the Arnold Palmer Invitiational, including back-to-back 75s at the Valero Texas Open. It's only a sample size of two tournaments, so those could just be blips on the radar, but he's got to prove those "yips" really are a thing of the past.
Kelly is in a similar position, needing to prove that he can withstand the pressure that comes with being atop the leaderboard after 36 holes. He's a longtime PGA Tour veteran, debuting in 1996 and owning three career wins but none since 2009.
After starting the tournament with an inconspicuous 71, Kelly came out firing on Friday with the best individual round of any player at 65.
The Players Championship has not traditionally been kind to Kelly, as Michael Whitmer of The Boston Globe pointed out on Twitter:
This is uncharted territory for Na and Kelly. Both have won on the PGA Tour, but neither has proven capable of closing in a tournament of this magnitude with some of the big names nipping at their heels.
Despite having a two-stroke lead entering Saturday, Kelly and Na will be looking up at someone else when the third round ends.
Rory McIlroy Will Make A Move
Rory McIlroy hasn't been a forgotten man in the rush to crown Spieth the next great superstar, but his greatness has been taken for granted. His win at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play event gave him more PGA Tour wins before age 26 than anyone except Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in the last 75 years, per Golf Channel's Justin Ray.
Entering the third round, McIlroy is part of a huge contingent of 14 at four under par. It feels like anyone's tournament at this point, but the world's top-ranked player is lurking just waiting to make a move on Saturday.
McIlroy hasn't taken off on the TPC Sawgrass course yet, shooting 69-71, but few players have been able to breakthrough so far. Kelly's 65 is the lowest round of any player by two shots. He's even acknowledged his game hasn't been exciting thus far (via Brian Wacker of PGATour.com):
"I was pretty bored out there," McIlroy said. "Just try and hit fairways, hit greens, pick off my birdies when I could. Yeah."
It's telling about where McIlroy's game is and where his head is that he can take a conservative approach and still end up at four under par.
Keep a close eye on how McIlroy plays the front nine because that's been a problem for him going back to last year's tournament (via ESPN.com's Jason Sobel):
Some players just have the ability to flip a switch when they want to take over. McIlroy has done it numerous times throughout his career and will do it on Saturday, shooting up the leaderboard to challenge for the 54-hole advantage.
Tiger Woods Will Shoot Over Par
Even though Woods hasn't had that one great round since returning at the Masters, he's played six decent rounds of golf. He flirted with the cut line on Friday, needing a birdie on his final hole to secure his spot this weekend.
Woods is still searching for consistency in his comeback. He had six birdies and five bogeys on Friday, for example, but that last hole was indicative of his ability to still make a shot when he needs it.
Sobel did tweet out that it's telling how far Woods' game has fallen that a birdie to make the cut is now considered a huge moment:
It's not going out on a big limb to say that Woods won't repeat his one-under 71 from Friday in the third round. He needed luck to reach that mark and has played three of six rounds since the Masters over par, though he stays around the mark with all three-round scores being 73.
There's only so many times a player can flirt with disaster before it eventually strikes. Woods is no longer good enough to cover up for his mistakes. Expectations for the 39-year-old should still be reserved, though his 68 in the third round at Augusta seems likely to convince some he can pull it off again.
Woods' swing is coming along, though he's still erratic with his chipping and putting that makes low scores impossible to predict. He certainly makes things more interesting by playing well, but it will take time before he's competing for a championships.
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