Players Championship 2021: Justin Thomas Earns 1-Shot Win over Lee Westwood

Justin Thomas won the 2021 Players Championship on Sunday after finishing the first round in a tie for 26th place.

In the final round, he climbed two spots up the leaderboard for a one-shot victory over Lee Westwood.

The win is his first victory of 2021, and he claimed it by hitting 94.4 percent of the greens in regulation in the final round. 

His putt for par on No. 17 was perhaps his most clutch moment of the tournament.

Westwood, who conceded his place atop the leaderboard to Bryson DeChambeau late in last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, was in strong position to contend on Sunday, having held his lead from Saturday late into the final round before Thomas took over.

Thomas climbed up from third place to hold the outright lead by getting three birdies and an eagle in a four-hole stretch, though Westwood came crawling back.

DeChambeau's double bogey on No. 4 put him out of the race early, but he eagled on No. 16 to get back up toward the top. 

Final Leaderboard

1. Justin Thomas (-14)

2. Lee Westwood (-13)

T3. Brian Harman, Bryson DeChambeau (-12)

T5. Talor Gooch, Paul Casey (-11)

7. Corey Conners (-10)

8. Shane Lowry (-9)

T9. Charles Howell III, Daniel Berger, Jason Kokrak, Victor Perez, Si Woo Kim, Sergio Garcia, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm (-8)

Full leaderboard via PGATour.com.

"I fought so hard today," an emotional Thomas said after play. "I stayed really patient. Probably one of the best rounds of my life, tee-to-green." 

He also paid tribute to his late grandfather, Paul, who died in February. Paul Thomas appeared in two PGA Championships and a U.S. Open, and the younger Thomas has been open about the impact his grandfather had on his game.  

Next up is The Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Sungjae Im will look to defend his title from last March.