Chris’ Country Club: Looking Ahead

Christopher Lambert

Staff Writer

Golf season has started, and nothing says golf more than TPC Sawgrass and the devastating course that it is.

The Players Championship for the PGA occurred from Thursday March 13 – Monday March 17. The winner of the tournament was Rory McIlroy who won a three-hole playoff against JJ Spaun. Other notable players at the top of the leaderboard were Akshay Bhatia, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood. TPC Sawgrass always proves to be tough, and nothing is more difficult than hole 17 which is surrounded by water and has a small green.

Players almost never hit the green all four times throughout the tournament and this year proved that. In the three-hole playoff between McIlroy and Spaun, JJ Spaun overshot the green and went into the water, when asked post round what he thought about the shot, he said “It’s hard to not feel discouraged a little bit, but nothing but positives in putting myself in contention and giving myself a chance to win in a play-off.” Spaun had a very inspiring performance.

Last week, the Valspar Championship was held and Viktor Hovland who is from Norway won the tournament. In the tournament, Justin Thomas held the late lead and ended up having a tough last few holes and left the door open for Hovland who has found his stride after a tough 2024 season. Hovland takes the win and is back in the winner’s circle.