Players Championship 2021 Leaderboard: Live Look at Sunday Scores, Predictions

Justin Thomas is one of the most consistent golfers on the PGA Tour, so it is no surprise to see him near the top of the leaderboard at the Players Championship.

The 27-year-old carded the tournament's lowest round Saturday to move three shots back of leader Lee Westwood.

Thomas will be one hole ahead of Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday, and he may be able to put pressure on the top two players with another low round. But he is far from the only big name lurking behind Westwood and DeChambeau.

Jon Rahm, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia could all benefit from the combination of a low round and potential struggles out of the final group to claim the title.

Players Championship Leaderboard

Lee Westwood (-13)

Bryson DeChambeau (-11)

Justin Thomas (-10)

Doug Ghim (-10)

Paul Casey (-9)

Jon Rahm (-9)

Brian Harman (-9)

Chris Kirk (-8)

Sergio Garcia (-8)

Matthew Fitzpatrick (-8)

Full leaderboard can be found on PGATour.com.

Predictions

Justin Thomas Overcomes 3-Shot Deficit, Wins Tournament

Since the 2020 U.S. Open in September, Thomas has four top-10 finishes in nine starts.

He is in line to extend that to five in 10 on Sunday, but he has the potential to do more than just finish toward the top of the leaderboard.

Thomas has a history of going low on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass. He finished the 2016 event with a 65 and closed the 2018 competition with a 66. The difference between those tournaments and Sunday is that he is in a position to claim the victory. He surged to third in 2016 after a third-round 75 and took 11th in 2018.

In his past 11 rounds at TPC Sawgrass, Thomas recorded a 72 or better, and he has six cards in the 60s in his career at the course.

On Saturday, Thomas started his push up the leaderboard with a birdie on each of the first four holes. He has eight birdies on those holes. If he replicates that start, he could make up ground on Westwood and DeChambeau and go shot-for-shot with the top two.

Thomas made up four strokes on Westwood and three shots on DeChambeau on Saturday, and if he uses a strong start as a boost for the rest of the round, he could overtake them with another low round.

Paul Casey Makes Surge Toward Top 

Casey's final-round scores have been hit-or-miss during the PGA Tour season.

The 43-year-old has three final-round scorecards in the 60s in eight starts, but he also finished early March's Arnold Palmer Invitational with a 74.

We will likely see the in-form version of Casey on Sunday because he reeled off back-to-back 67s to get within four shots of Westwood.

Casey got off to an impressive start Saturday, picking up an eagle and three birdies. He faced some struggles on the back nine, but he bounced back from three bogeys with a trio of birdies. He had more of a steady hand in the first two rounds, as he recorded just two bogeys. The only major blemish on those scorecards was a quadruple bogey at the water-surrounded 17th hole.

Since that slip-up Thursday, Casey has played some splendid golf, and if he did not record that high total at No. 17, he may be at the top of the leaderboard right now.

If he continues to avoid major mistakes, as he did Friday and Saturday, Casey could be one the few golfers in contention for the win on the back nine.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from PGATour.com.