PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The ball seemed destined for the water. All the body language in the world didn't seem like it was going to change that. Justin Thomas tried anyway. And then, a shot aimed too far left somehow found land, rolling along the railroad ties that frame the pond for another 65 yards before coming to rest safely in the 18th fairway.
Thomas pulled his cap over his eyes and staggered toward his caddie, Jimmy Johnson, knowing that calamity had been avoided.
It was more relief than joy. That, too, was the emotion Thomas carried through after the final hole at TPC Sawgrass and into the celebration of a one-shot victory over Lee Westwood at the Players Championship.