PGA Results: 2012 PLAYERS Championship

PGA Tour - THE PLAYERS Championship Fantastic weekend of golf this last few days.  The final results of THE PLAYERS Championship were a bit surprising.  The results weren't surprising in that a great ball striker (Matt Kuchar) won, but in that most of the big names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were non-factors. Kuchar's two shot victory is by far the biggest win of his career, and the paycheck is the biggest too.  The winner's cut of THE PLAYERS is the largest 1st place money in golf at $1.71 million. Factors Kevin Na has a waggle problem.  He has trouble transitioning from pre-shot waggles to pulling the trigger.  It got so bad this week that he'd actually take a big practice swing in frustration and loudly tell himself, "pull the trigger."  Though Na had the lead coming into Sunday, the nerves got to him and he fired a final round 76. A group at -11, two shots behind the final winning score included Zach Johnson, Martin Laird, Rickie Fowler and Ben Curtis.  Nearly all of these players had a shot at the win but in the end it was Matt Kuchar's to lose, which he did not. Non Factors Looking back at Rory McIlory's record at the TPC Sawgrass makes it easier to understand why he missed the cut.  He hasn't broken 70 there, ever.  Others who surprisingly missed the cut included returning champion K.J. Choi and the hottest golfer of the season so far Hunter Mahan. Tiger Woods's first round 74 made making the cut questionable until a fine 2nd round of 68 assured that he would stick around for the weekend.  But Tiger couldn't make anything happen, scoring rounds of 72 and 73 on Saturday and Sunday to finish in a ho-hum tie for 40th. Lee Westwood made the cut and finished at +4, a mere 17 shots off the lead. Up Next A fun week came to a close and we're right back for another, the Byron Nelson Championship.  Stay tuned for the weekend preview of the Byron and other pro golf events this Thursday.