Michael Thorbjornsen arrives at the PLAYERS Championship with one clear goal: to win. After overcoming a tough opening round at TPC Sawgrass, Michael Thorbjornsen now stands on the brink of shattering a record that even the golf greats couldn’t achieve, with only 18 holes remaining.

Michael Thorbjornsen heads to the final round, sitting in the second spot. He opened with 74 on Thursday, and if he ends up winning, it would be the highest start by a winner of THE PLAYERS Championship. The last was Hal Sutton’s opening round at the 1983 PLAYERS Championship.

In 1983, Hal Sutton won golf’s ‘Fifth Major’ in his first appearance after starting the tournament with a dismal 1 over par. Through the middle rounds, Sutton carded a 71 and a 70 to sit at 2-under-par, trailing John Cook by four strokes entering the final day. On Sunday, Sutton played a 3-under 69 to secure a one-stroke victory over Bob Eastwood. He later won one more trophy at the TPC Sawgrass in 2000 and famously defeated the young Tiger Woods.

On the other hand, Michael Thorbjornsen faced a very scary start during the rainy first round this Thursday, shooting a 2-over-par 74, a score that left him at T74 and staring at a missed cut. However, he found his rhythm on Friday, firing a 7-under 65, which catapulted him back into contention.

On Saturday, Thorbjornsen carded a 5-under 67. His round has so many highlight moments, including elite ball-striking by sticking a 242-yard approach to within one foot on the par-5 11th for an eagle. He later closed with crucial birdies at the 16th and 17th and positioned himself in solo second place at 10-under par.

Sutton and Thorbjornsen have a lot in common. While chasing their maiden PLAYERS Championship title, both were twenty-four years old, and both had arrived as first-timers trying to prove they belonged on the Tour.

Now, if Thorbjornsen can overcome the three-shot deficit, he would achieve a feat rarely seen in golf. He would become only the third player ever (and the first in 24 years) to win THE PLAYERS in his first attempt. The only others to accomplish this are Hal Sutton (1983) and Craig Perks (2002). 

Ludvig Åberg and Michael Thorbjornsen are set to tee off together at TPC Sawgrass at 1:40 PM, and are eagerly looking forward to it.

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Michael Thorbjornsen and Ludvig Aberg sing high praises of each other

Both stars now call the Ponte Vedra Beach area home and frequently spend their off-weeks practicing together at the TPC Sawgrass facilities. Their history dates back to college, where Åberg (Texas Tech) and Thorbjornsen (Stanford) were consecutive No. 1s in the PGA Tour University rankings. So when asked about his Sunday pairing with Aberg, Thorbjornsen was enthusiastic.

“Yeah, that would be pretty cool. He’s a great guy. I love playing golf with him,” Thorbjornsen said. “He was one of the guys in college that I looked up to, even though he’s only one year older than me. Very solid player. I think his mental game is extremely good as well. So if it ends up happening, I’m really looking forward to it and yeah, pretty cool that I guess two hometown guys are in the final group.”

And it’s not just Thorbjornsen, who is excited for the pairing.

“I was telling (caddie) Joe (Greiner) walking up the last hole, ‘It looks like we’re playing with Michael tomorrow, which will be fun. He lives in the area too. We play some golf when we’re home, and at some point, when we were both in college, it felt like we played every single tournament together. He’s a great guy, a good player, and he’ll be coming out excited tomorrow to play. He’ll be coming out hot, and I’m going to have to respond and play some good golf.”

The path forward for Thorbjornsen won’t be easy, though. Aberg seized control of the leaderboard on Friday with one of the greatest rounds in Sawgrass history, a 9-under 63 that included two eagles and tied the front-nine record with a 29. Although a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole Saturday ‘stung,’ he still has a three-shot cushion entering the final day.

Several others are also gaining ground.

Cameron Young sits in third place with a 9-under total. Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele are five shots back and surely waiting for the young front-runners to make mistakes. Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland also sit at eight under par after fighting through the tough course.