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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -Nicholas Thompson watched his ball stop safely on a ridge at the par-3 No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass, then waited for it to roll.
He expected it to happen much sooner than it did, and when it finally took off, it became one of the wildest adventures at the famed island green on a windy Sunday.
Thompson took his time getting to the green, walking about as slowly as he could while keeping an eye on his ball. He figured one of those 40-mph gusts in the final round at The Players Championship would do the trick. But it seemingly took forever.
It wasn't until Thompson reached down to mark his ball that it started to turn. It rolled about 25 feet closer to the hole, leaving him with a 5-footer for birdie.
"I was just baffled that it didn't roll down (sooner)," he said. "Literally, it was within 2 inches of catching the slope. When I went up there, I went to put my marker down and got about 3 inches or 4 inches from the ground and the ball just started rolling."
Thompson threw his hands up in the air, egging on the wildly cheering gallery, called over a rules official just to be sure he didn't have to remark the ball and then made the putt.
Others weren't as fortunate at the 128-yard hole.
Charlie Wi knocked two in the water and finished with a quadruple-bogey 7. Jim Furyk, Rocco Mediate and Mark Wilson made triple bogey.
With the wind whipping left to right, the shortest hole played tougher than just about any other on the Stadium Course. Only the par-4 18th was more difficult Sunday.
Kevin Stadler thought his shot would land in the middle of the green, but when the wind got done with it?
"I hit a perfect shot and it barely stayed on the green," he said.
The hole yielded just eight birdies, and two of those came from the same pairing. Pat Perez and Brett Quigley had two of the best tee shots of the afternoon there, and may have provided the best reaction.
Perez, struggling most of the day en route to a 5-over 77, knocked his shot within 2 feet. He watched his ball inch closer and closer to an ace, then tossed his club across the tee box in mock disgust when it stopped just short.
