Players Championship 2015 Leaderboard: Live Updates, Top Storylines for Sunday

A gorgeous day, a grueling course and a group of golfers crowding near the top of the leaderboard—what more could you ask for on a Sunday afternoon?

Not much, and The Players Championship has it all. Let's take a look at the updating leaderboard and a few of the storylines to watch Sunday. 

Leaderboard

Storylines

Can Chris Kirk pull this off?

Without question, that was the top storyline heading into Sunday. As the man atop the leaderboard before play Sunday, Kirk had a crowded field behind him and knew he would tee off in the final pair with Kevin Kisner having to fend off the likes of Ben Martin, Bill Haas (like Kisner, both a stroke behind Kirk coming into Sunday), Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and Adam Scott, all who were within striking distance. 

For McIlroy, it's been all about the back nine, as Justin Ray of the Golf Channel tweeted:

If the entire tournament was the back nine on repeat, McIlroy would run away with this tournament each year. 

Kisner and Kirk, meanwhile, are fellow Georgia Bulldogs and were teammates on the 2005 team that won the national championship, per Sean Martin, Mike McAllister and Helen Ross of PGATour.com.

And one of the stories to this point has been the influx of inexperienced golfers at this tournament littering the top of the leaderboard coming into the day, per The Associated Press via ESPN:

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Adding to the dynamic is that three players within two shots of the lead are at the Players for the first time.

"We had a little survey of the first-timers -- 'Who do you pick besides yourself to win?' -- and I picked Ben Martin," Kisner said. "No, man, everybody talks about pressure and nerves and all that, but we've been through it all. If we've gotten here, we've done tour school, we've won tournaments. Just because it's a bigger stage doesn't mean we're going to (stink) all of a sudden. We'll see what happens tomorrow."

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While Kirk is a surprise leader, he has fared well at TPC Sawgrass in the past, finishing 13th at the tournament in 2014. So his ascension to the top of the leaderboard isn't completely shocking, though it is unexpected. 

Tiger Woods' struggles were less unexpected, though somewhat disappointing, especially after he finished a respectable 17th at the Masters. Still, his poor finish was predictable after he shot a 75 on Saturday, ultimately leading to a three-over finish to the tournament. 

But with players like Vijay Singh, Dustin Johnson and Ernie Els also finishing above par, the tough golf course at TPC Sawgrass reared its head again. 

Indeed, the course—renowned for its difficult 17th hole—is as much of a story, as always, as any of the players. With many of the holes being placed in far more difficult positions Sunday, the unforgiven course figures to play an even bigger role than it has in the first three days.