Sahith Theegala: Brian Harman makes TPC Sawgrass ‘look easy’ at The Players

Sahith Segala worked hard to post a 5-under 67 on Saturday, including a shocking eagle on the par-5 16th and a great birdie on the par-3 17th.

In doing so, he moved up the leaderboard of The Players Championship and entered squarely into contention. Segala is currently at 12 under par, five strokes behind Xander Schauffele.

But the former Pepperdine star didn’t have it as easy as playing partner Brian Herman. Herman shot a 64, his lowest round so far this week.

“Brian hit one of the easiest 8-unders I’ve ever seen in my life, and a really weird 6-under on No. 9. He had some bad luck there,” Segala said. Told.

“I feel like he never starts the ball off the line. Every iron shot he hits starts towards the flag and either cuts a little bit or draws a little bit…He attacks quite a bit. He just stripes it. I’ve played with him probably five or six times now and he’s always been a great putter. When I’m there, it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Everything went well for Herman in the first eight holes, scoring four birdies. One of his came on his par-3 eighth hole, one of TPC Sawgrass’ most difficult holes.

However, the former Georgia Bulldog stumbled a bit at No. 9.

“[My drive went] It’s all the way to the left,” Herman said. “I tried to go right, but there was a big lump in front of me at the base. I was actually relieved because the only play I had was a chip out to right field from the route. It was a really good bogey. 5th from the fairway. The wood was really nice and I two-putted it.”

Despite hitting his second shot about 6 feet, Herman avoided the big numbers that were key to a good round at TPC Sawgrass.

He then made five more birdies on the back nine, proving that the roots of No. 9 were not affecting him at all.

“I think it’s a great test for golf,” Herman said of TPC Sawgrass.

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“I think if you actually hit a lot of golf shots and think about it in your own way, you can hit low numbers, and even if you don’t, you can hit high numbers.”

The Champion Golfer of the Year highlighted the course, ranking second in strokes to the green and first in strokes gained putting.

He pulled it off brilliantly and conveyed what the golf world saw last year at Royal Liverpool.

“You can never predict how you’ll hole a putt, but what I can predict is how well I’ve worked on my stroke, my mechanics, and what I have to do to hit a lot of good putts.” said Herman. to put

“I’m just trying to start the ball on the line and I think it’s going to go in.”

Herman made a lot of putts and is currently aiming to win The Players Championship. He is two places behind Schauffele with a total of 15 under.

This is one of the most unpredictable venues in sports, so anything really can happen. But if Herman continues to putt well and makes it look easy again, he could be standing next to Commissioner Jay Monahan with the trophy on Sunday evening.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.