Golf, The Players Championship | featured news

Matt Kuchar looked beyond the edge of the 16th green at a scene packed with enough stress it could wipe away even his smile. Across the water was an island green that was awaiting him Sunday in The Players Championship. The guy dressed in all orange and pumping his first was Rickie Fowler after making a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th to cut Kuchar's lead to two shots.

Common sense, not to mention fan sentiment, would argue that Rickie Fowler inserted himself Saturday as the leading man at the Players Championship. He wears clothes that have long defined the man, almost before he was a full-grown man.

Tiger Woods limped off the golf course and into a future that is murkier than ever Thursday when he withdrew with leg injuries after his worst nine holes at The Players Championship.