The 45th Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL has all the drama you can find in golf and is the closest thing to a major on tour. It’s not a major, but it’s thrilling to watch. The par 3 17th, 137 yards, the Island hole with water on all 4 sides of the green, is where as Coach O says, “dreams come to die.” It’s not like who’ll win it on this hole, it’s who’ll pull gag central and lose it. Contenders who don’t gag have a real shot of winning, provided they can navigate the difficult 18th, really one of the best closing holes in golf, and my personal favorite 18th hole. It’s a 445 yard, par 4 with water running down the entire left side of the hole. There’s not a lot of room on the right either with mounds and rough and trees on that side. So accuracy is at a premium. Just when the contender thinks he’s made it after surviving 17 with a par or miraculously making birdie, 18 puts the clamps down on their excitement and relief. It’s quite a hole in and of itself. The drama will be through the roof good.

The defending champion is Rory and he’s been trending really well lately. He’s No.1 in the world, he has 7 top 5 finishes in his last 7 starts including a victory at the WGC-HSBC in Shanghai. I’m sure he was glad he was there in October and not December. I think the reaction is a little out of hand right now with COVID-19 and I’ll expound on that with my basketball comments below. It’s a serious issue, but people are taking it to the extreme, particularly Mark Emmert and the NCAA.

Jon Rahm, World No.2, is a serious contender, but he can lose it emotionally at the wrong times. He’s gotten better with his temperament, but don’t see him controlling his emotions well enough to earn the win the Players. World No.3 Brooks Koepka is kind of a mess with his game right now. His knee problems are causing him fits on the course. He’s out of sorts.

Some other guys to consider are Mr, Integrity, Patrick Reed (what a disaster guy, though he’s a heckuva player), Hideki Matsuyama, I guess, he never putts well enough in key moments. Rickie Fowler, I guess, his game has tanked recently and I don’t trust him. When is he ever going to win a major? Time to step it up, Rick. The young guys, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff all 22 and younger have all won in the last year. I don’t see one of them winning this year. Not experienced enough. Sunjae Im is possible. The winner at the Honda 2 weeks ago and tied third at the Arnie last week. What ever happened to fit Asians? It went out the window after super athlete Y.E, Yang defeated Eldrick at the 2009 PGA Championship. Guy was a fitness guru. Now you have Asians on the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tours who are complete out of shape heifers. The LPGA Tour is almost unwatchable because of the size of some of the Asian players. Women’s golf can be pretty good at times, but when you get those world heavyweights on screen, it’s change the channel. Hard to watch.

Justin Rose isn’t using his Homma clubs anymore. That turned out to be a major mistake after he won the Fed Ex Cup in 2018, then tanked in 2019. Now he’s back to Taylor Made clubs. May make a difference but I’m not buying him at Sawgrass. Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, that’d be a negative.

So that leaves me with world No.4. Has been up and down some this year but won the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in Korea in October and the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in January. I’ll take the 26 year old from Lexington, KY and product of the University of Alabama.

Justin Thomas

Weather: very good, some significant wind. Thursday, 77, partly sunny, wind 7-14, Friday, 80, sunny, 7-12, Saturday, Sunny, 76, 7-10, Sunday, 77, 7-12. No.17 will be really interesting on Sunday, figuring out which club to hit because short, long, right or left, you’re wet and probably out of contention.

TV: Thursday-Friday, 12-6 PM CT, Golf Channel, Saturday, 1-6 PM CT NBC, Sunday, 12-5 PM NBC.

SEC Tournament

The NCAA has decided to disallow fans from attending the entire tournament. No fans for any of the games. That’s a little severe. I’ll watch it of course, and maybe, but not likely, get used to it. But couldn’t they wait till Friday even Sunday before deciding this. I’m not belittling the Coronavirus threat nationally, but taking fans away from the tournament could ruin it, at least it will this year. NCAA Chairman Mark Emmert overreacted again, and it’s really inept to do this. People have to go on living, and they need entertainment to get them away from this depressing news. I understand the caution needed, but come on Emmert, give it a chance to die down before making this decision. There’s got to be a better way. Maybe having people sit five seats apart from each other at these arenas. I read that, that seemed reasonable. Emmert, like he does everything else, is ruining the tournament. When’s he ever going to go after Bill Self, Sean Miller, Will Wade and Bruce Pearl among others for the paying players scandal. He just can’t seem to get anything done right. This is a mistake. I’ll watch it, but it looks disastrous.

But the SEC IS having fans attend its tournament and it’ll be a blast. Here are my predictions for the tournament which has already started at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville with Georgia squaring off with Ole Miss (6 PM CT) on the SEC Network. Vanderbilt plays Arkansas in the nightcap. All 4 games tomorrow will be on the SEC Network starting at noon. Friday’s first 2 games will be on ESPN starting at noon and Friday Night’s games beginning at 6 PM CT will be on the SEC Network. Saturday’s semifinal games, starting at noon, will be on ESPN. And the championship game will be Sunday at noon CT on ESPN. All these times are central.

Here are predictions

Tonight

6 PM CT SEC Network

Georgia 65, Ole Miss 60

8:30-45 PM CT SEC Network

Vanderbilt 72, Arkansas 68

Thursday, all on SEC Network

Noon

Bama 74, Tennessee 72

2:30 PM

Florida 68 , Georgia 64

6 PM

A&M 55, Missouri 52

8:30 PM approximately

Vanderbilt 70, South Carolina 68

Friday, quarterfinals

first 2 games on ESPN, night matchups on SEC

Noon

Kentucky 76, Bama 70, sorry Walter, Bama G and Pony

2:30 PM

Florida 78, Miss. State 74

6 PM

Auburn 68, A&M 64

8:30 PM

LSU 80, Vanderbilt 72

Saturday,semis

Both games on ESPN

Noon

Florida 72, Kentucky 70

I always have thought Calipari chokes. Not sure he shouldn’t be a part of the paying scandal either.

2:30 PM

LSU 80, Auburn 76

That’s a strong *** offer, I mean, game.

Championship Sunday

Noon

Florida 84, LSU 80

SEC Champion: The Gatuhs

Enjoy this week-weekend of b-ball and golf. Not sure what to expect next week and for the rest of March. Hopeful it will work out and the games are still interesting.