MARTIN LAIRD JOINT SECOND BEHIND MATT KUCHAR IN PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

FROM THE BBC SPORT.COM WEBSITE

American Matt Kuchar held his nerve on a tense final day to win the Players Championship at Sawgrass by two shots.

The 33-year-old, who started the round a shot behind leader Kevin Na, dropped a shot at the opening hole but hit four birdies for a 13-under total.
Scotland's Martin Laird and American trio Zach Johnson, Ben Curtis and Rickie Fowler were joint second.
Luke Donald needed a top-four finish in Florida to take over from Rory McIlroy as world number one but finished sixth.
Donald had started the final round back in 27th, eight shots behind Na, but he gave it a real go with a round of 66 for a nine-under total.
He also equalled the record for golf's richest event with a back-nine 30 containing six birdies.
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Matt Kuchar facts

• Kuchar's previous best finish this season was joint third at the Masters in Augusta
• He won the US Amateur title in 1997
• He made his Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor in 2010

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Kuchar, whose last win came in the 2010 Barclays Championship where he beat Laird in a play-off, saved a shot with a gutsy par putt at the third and then came close to an eagle at the fourth, but had to be content with a birdie. He then hit a lovely approach to the ninth, leaving him with a relatively easy putt before another birdie at the 12th.

He picked up another shot at the 16th and not even a dropped shot at the 17th could halt his charge as he claimed the biggest win of his career to move up to third in the US Ryder Cup standings.
Na, who had birdied the 18th to take a one-shot lead into Sunday's final day, was battling a form of the yips with his swing and he also struggled on the greens, dropping four shots in the space of five holes from the fifth to see his challenge disappear and he ended up with an eight-under total.
Laird went out in 33 with birdies at the second, seventh and ninth then went into the joint lead with Kuchar thanks to a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th.
But errors at the 14th and the long 16th as well as the bogey at the 18th left the 29-year-old Glaswegian two shots behind Kuchar.
Lee Westwood had also had an opportunity to finish the week as number one following McIlroy's missed cut, but the win he needed never looked likely for long before he closed with a 77.
It left Westwood four over and down in 60th place, while another disappointing tournament for Tiger Woods ended with him scoring 73 for one under and he was outside the top 30 for the third event in a row

+FOR THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE'S IN-DEPTH LOOK AT HOW MARTIN LAIRD PERFORMED IN THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

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LEADING FINAL TOTALSPar 288 (4x72)

Players from US unless stated

275 Matt Kuchar 68 68 69 70

277 Martin Laird (Scotland) 65 73 72 67, Zach Johnson 70 66 73 68, Rickie Fowler 72 69 66 70, Ben Curtis 68 71 70 68

279 Luke Donald (England) 72 69 72 66

 

SELECTED TOTALS

285 Ian Poulter (England) 65 76 71 73, Phil Mickelson 71 71 70 73, Brian Davis (England) 68 70 72 75 (T25)

290 Justin Rose (England) 76 68 75 71 (T51)

291 Sergia Garcia (Spain) 73 71 68 79 (T56)

292 Lee Westwood (England) 71 70 74 77 (T61)

 

 

 

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