Going into the final round of The Players Championship with a five-shot lead and the opportunity to play alongside Tiger Woods on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass would seem like a dream to many.
Unfortunately for Alex Cejka, the day proved to be a golfing disaster at the PGA Tour‘s flagship event.
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The 38-year-old had not won on the European Tour for nearly seven years, while he was still awaiting his first victory on the PGA Tour. In fact, he had not had a top 10 Stateside in the opening months of the 2009 season.
Nevertheless, the Czech-born star was five shots clear of six players with 18 holes to play at The Players Championship that year.
It was the largest lead after 54 holes in the event’s history. It proved to not be enough.
How Alex Cejka blew the largest 54-hole lead The Players Championship had seen
Bogeys on one, five, and six, and a double bogey on four, saw Cejka’s lead evaporate several holes before the turn.
He would manage to make just one birdie all day as he went on to post a 79 and finish in a tie for ninth. That would prove to be his best finish in the event, with Cejka ending up in the same spot seven years later in 2016.
That presented an opportunity for Henrik Stenson to secure the biggest win of his career to date. The Swede shot 66 in the last round – with six birdies and no bogeys – to finish four shots clear of Ian Poulter.
It would be almost three years before Stenson would win again on either major tour.
How Tiger Woods played as Alex Cejka crumbled at TPC Sawgrass
Cejka’s playing partner had a slightly better day than the overnight leader. Tiger Woods posted a 73 to finish eighth on his own.
Remarkably, it was his first top 10 at the event since his victory in 2001. And Cejka admitted afterwards that he was stunned by how well Woods did score considering how poorly he played on Sunday.
“He didn’t really hit good shots. His short game is so great,” he said. “I don’t know what he shot, one over. I mean, it should have been five over the way he kind of played. But he’s a grinder, you know. But he didn’t really strike the ball well at all.”
Woods would go on to win The Players for a second time in 2013. But that would prove to be his last top 10 in the event.
Cejka – who represented Germany in 12 World Cups – would win on the PGA Tour in 2015, with a birdie on the first additional hole giving him victory in a five-way playoff at the Puerto Rico Open.
Cejka never played in the Ryder Cup, but has gone on to win three majors on the senior tour.
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