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The Starter: Grace in defeat

Matthew Fitzpatrick may not have won The Players Championship, but he handled hecklers and heartbreak was endearing; Name-dropping for TGL Finals; Masters is one week closer.

🏌🏽 Cameron Young won the Players Championship for his first major championship title. Oh, wait, the Players isn’t a major, is it?

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England's Matthew Fitzpatrick played well enough to nearly win his first Players Championship, but how he reacted while losing by a stroke to Cameron Young was roundly applauded.

🏌🏽 Matt Fitzpatrick, who finished runner-up to Young with a bogey on the 72nd hole, was the victim of some loud hecklers on the final couple of holes. On the 18th tee, Fitzpatrick asked Young — with a smile — “Do you hate me, too?” How cool was that?

🏌🏽 After the finale, Fitzpatrick offered congratulations to Young’s wife and parents. How generous was that?

🏌🏽 Ludvig Aberg, who for about 63 holes, was the Players champion in waiting, rinsed his chances with a couple of inexplicable wildly wayward shots. Was the moment too big for him?

🏌🏽 Michael Brennan’s swing coach is a middle school teacher. Adam Harrell is a PGA Professional who began to work with Brennan when he was 12 years old. But now he also teaches math to sixth-graders. Wonder who’s tougher to teach?

🏌🏽 Los Angeles GC will face Jupiter Links in a best-of-three series for the TGL championship. Quick, how many players can you name for each team?

🏌🏽 Zach Johnson won his PGA Tour Champions debut. Why does that happen so often?

🏌🏽 Tiger Woods, still recovering from disc replacement back surgery in October, says he hasn’t ruled out playing in the Masters. But he hasn’t ruled it in, has he?

🏌🏽 Is it really just three weeks until the Masters? Already?


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