Thirty within Five

It's the most crowded leaderboard in THE PLAYERS history. Thirty players are within five shots of the lead, five shots being the biggest comeback ever during the final round.



PGATOUR.com did an article about the hodgepodge of players jockeying for the win. Nobody has any idea how this whole things may play out -- even a newbie might pull out a win this time, given that there are three in the final three groups. (That's Kevin Kisner, Ben Martin and Justin Thomas.)

I don't even have a prediction because I'm simply overwhelmed by the possibilities. I suspect that the winner won't come from the back of that 30-man pack -- there are just too many players who could put up a good round between them and the leader, Chris Kirk, who's won three times and is a pretty good frontrunner himself.

So like you, I plan to just sit back and watch what happens. But I won't be surprised if this goes to a playoff, which will be a 3-hole playoff this time -- 16, 17 and 18, of course.

I will say this, though -- Kisner could be a spoiler. After that playoff loss a couple of weeks ago, you've got to like his chances if he manages to make it to a playoff. And perhaps others feel that way as well since PGATOUR.com used his photo in that article I mentioned...