Bryson DeChambeau is not the only player who works darkly. As the sun went down behind the trees Friday afternoon at TPC Sawgrass, Sergio Garcia stood on the green practice and putt roll after putt.
That’s what you do when you kind of have a day with the flat that Garcia made on Friday.
Garcia repaired a 72-par chance and sits two looks back halfway through the Players Championship, but struggled hard on the greens. After needing just 29 putts and finishing second in the field in strokes that were scored on Thursday, Garcia hit 34 putts on Friday while losing 2.890 hits on the greens, which gave him a 142 of 155 players left in the field.
Here is what Garcia lost within 8 feet:
• 3 feet, 5 inches for a birdie at No. 3
• 5 feet, 7 inches for par at No. 6
• 7ft, 6in for a birdie at No. 9
• 7 feet, 5 inches for par at No. 10
• 4 feet, 10 inches for par at No. 14
• 23 inches for par at No. 15
The latter was particularly strong.
“I wish I could explain it,” Garcia said. “It’s not like I’m tearing or anything. I was just a foot away, and I don’t know – I hit a putt and it left. ”
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Of course, firing even a par while missing all those putts means Garcia had a few clear spots as well. He drilled two of his last three holes, including tuning his design at No. 18 within 5 feet and draining the putt. He almost also made a double eagle at par-5 11th hole, tapping his second sight to 4 inches to establish an eagle.
“It was a beautiful roller, that’s for sure,” Garcia said. “Yeah, there were a lot of good things. Unfortunately, [also] a lot of bad stuff. But more than anything there was a lot of fighting, and that is one of the things I am most proud of because when things don’t happen and you miss a couple putts here and there, it ‘s easy to letting the globe get away from you. Luckily for me, I was able to keep it together and of course I had a good finish on the last three holes, so proud of that. “