After a tough few months, Justin Thomas was right: Something good did happen

Westwood comes up shy again, but at 48 he is seeing the upside: "These are young guys that I'm giving 20, 25 years to most of them, and I'm still contending. I'm enjoying it."

PLAYERS prize: Justin Thomas holds the trophy aloft after winning The Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday. 

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Through the first 32 holes of the Players Championship, Justin Thomas was even par and fighting to just make another cut. Then he did what he did better than anyone else – birdied a par-5.

His birdie on the 16th hole Friday got him back above the cut line, and he finished the week playing the par-5s on the TPC Stadium Course at a record-tying 14-under par – the same number he finished on to beat Lee Westwood by one stroke.