FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, March 13th, 2021

NOTES AND QUOTES – THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ON NBC (THIRD ROUND)

“He has been in complete control. Tee to green, it has been a clinic on one of the most challenging, most difficult, most visually intimidating golf courses.” – Paul Azinger on Lee Westwood (-13, Leader)

“He can hit them long and he can hit them pretty straight. When he is making more than his share (of putts), it’s hardly a fair fight.” – Brandel Chamblee on Bryson DeChambeau (-11, 2nd place)

Sunday’s Final Round Coverage Begins on NBC at 1 p.m. ET, Preceded by Live From THE PLAYERS at 9 a.m. ET on GOLF Channel

STAMFORD, Conn. – March 13, 2021 – NBC Sports continued its comprehensive coverage of the 2021 edition of THE PLAYERS Championship today on NBC from The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Sunday’s final round coverage begins with Live From THE PLAYERS at 9 a.m. ET on GOLF Channel, and moves to NBC at 1 p.m. ET.

THE PLAYERS Championship – Third Round Leaderboard

Player Total
Lee Westwood -13
Bryson DeChambeau -11
Justin Thomas -10
Doug Ghim -10
Jon Rahm -9
Paul Casey -9
Brian Harman -9

 

On Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau Final Round Pairing For Second Consecutive Sunday

Brandel Chamblee: “Ordinarily you’ve got to wait a little while for sequels. It was two years between “The Godfather” and “The Godfather II”, but there Bryson sits like Luca Brasi, not letting Westwood in, and here we go again. Back-to-back weeks — a terrific soiree between Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau.”

On Lee Westwood (13-under, leader)

Paul Azinger on Westwood: “He has been in complete control. Tee to green, it has been a clinic on one of the most challenging, most difficult, most visually intimidating golf courses. This would be by far the biggest win of his career.”

Chamblee on Westwood’s relaxed attitude: “He has talked about how he’s put less pressure on himself. It’s quite evident when you watch him work his way around the course that he is more relaxed…and missing putt after putt after putt today, you could forgive him if the blood began to boil a bit…that was as fine an example of patience as you will ever see.”

Justin Leonard on what takeaways Westwood can take from last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational: “For him, making that putt on 18…to force Bryson (DeChambeau) to make his (putt), I think he can lean on just that one exchange on the 18th green last week. His attitude coming in here was all positive.”

On Bryson DeChambeau (11-under, 2nd)

Chamblee on DeChambeau: “He can hit them long and he can hit them pretty straight. When he is making more than his share (of putts) the last two years on the PGA TOUR, it’s hardly a fair fight.”

Azinger on DeChambeau after par putt on the 18th: “Has this become his strength? The putter? We thought it was all the power — but he’s way more than just power…nobody works harder. He’s not one-dimensional.”

Chamblee on DeChambeau’s mindset: “He’s in another back-and-forth with Lee Westwood, certainly another great day of competition ahead of him (on Sunday). But you get the impression he’s really just competing with himself. He’s trying to see how far, how high, how fast he can hit this club and carry that perfection all the way through his golf bag.”

Leonard on DeChambeau’s all-around game: “He knows how to play small ball. Obviously, he’s the best at playing big ball, but he also knows how to play small ball. This week, it’s been a combination of the two…he’s got great control for having that much speed.”

–NBC SPORTS–