By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Spencer Levin will play in the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, on June 3.

It will be the first time Levin has played competitively this year after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligmanet in his left thumb last fall.

Levin, who spent Tuesday racing around Indianapolis Motor Speedway with 2013 Indianapolis 500 qualifier and IZOD teammate A.J. Allmendinger, said he also plans to play some Web.com Tour events beginning in late August.

The U.S. Open will take place June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club.

Last season, Levin had a half-dozen top 25s in 26 starts and finished 45th in the FedExCup standings. He made just under $1.3 million.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

The summer of Guan Tianlang continues.

The 14-year-old Chinese amateur has accepted a sponsor exemption into the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the tournament announced on Wednesday.

"Guan's invitation was a no-brainer," said tournament director Phil Cannon. “He certainly has made a big splash in the sports world. And we are excited our fans will get to witness history. It's remarkable that he did not have a three-putt green in 72 holes at Augusta."

Guan, who was the youngest player to participate in the Masters before finishing as the low amateur at Augusta National, is also in the field for next week's Memorial tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance.

The FedEx St. Jude Classic will be his fourth event on a sponsor exemption. As a non-member of the PGA TOUR, he is allowed to accept up to seven sponsor exemptions.

Guan earned his spot in the Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

In his two starts since the Masters, Guan finished 71st in New Orleans and missed the cut last week in Dallas.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Dustin Johnson withdrew from the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Tuesday, citing a bad back.

It marks the third straight week Johnson has missed because of injury.

Johnson withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship because of inflammation in his left wrist. After an opening-round 74 at last week's PLAYERS Championship, Johnson withdrew, citing an injury to his lower back.

Tuesday, Johnson said via his Twitter account, "Tried to go but have inflammation in my facet joints. Some rest and daily therapy with my physical therapist, then I should be good!!"

Johnson opened the year with a victory in Maui. He pulled out of the following week's event on Oahu after the first round with the flu. He had recorded three straight top-15 finishes before pulling out at Quail Hollow.

Earlier Tuesday, Bob Estes also withdrew from the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Tiger Woods officially committed to the Memorial tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance on Tuesday.

"I always look forward to playing in Jack's tournament," Woods said on his website. "It's a wonderful course, and we are always treated well. We, as players, are very appreciative of what he has meant to the game."

The tournament is May 30-June 2 at Muirfield Village.

Last year, Woods shot a final-round 67 to win by two, becoming the first player in the tournament's history to win it five times. He also won there in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009.

Woods is coming off his fourth victory of the season Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship. He has four wins in seven starts this year and 78 for his career on the PGA TOUR.

Last year's victory at Muirfield Village was his 73rd, tying him at the time with tournament host Jack Nicklaus. Woods has won five times since and is second to only Sam Snead and his 82 career wins.

World No. 1 @tigerwoods committed to @memorialgolf: “It’s always great to win a tournament, but when it’s Jack’s, it’s extra special."

— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) May 14, 2013

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Rickie Fowler, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Jason Dufner, Freddie Jacobson and Padraig Harrington have all committed to the Travelers Championship, the tournament announced on Tuesday.

"Along with being great golfers, these six individuals are all well known and our fans will be thrilled to see them compete in person," tournament director Nathan Grube said. "Our competitive field just got a lot stronger with these additions."

All six have played in the event before, which will take place at TPC River Highlands June 20-23, the week after the U.S. Open at nearby Merion Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia.

Jacobson won the Travelers in 2011, while Harrington tied for fifth in 2011 and was 11th last year.

Others already committed include Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley, Justin Rose, Zach Johnson, and defending champion Marc Leishman.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- So often Tiger Woods forces his opponents into mistakes.

Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship wasn’t much different, whether it was Sergio Garcia hitting into the water on the 17th hole, or David Lingmerth needing birdie on the 18th and coming away with a bogey.

“I shot even par, which is not a bad score out there, but I feel like I could have done a lot better,” Lingmerth said. “That's why that's leaving a little sour taste right now. I felt like I left a lot of shots out there.”

A three-putt from 45 feet on No. 8, another one from 30 feet on No. 10, specifically. They put Lingmerth into rally mode, and catching Woods has proved to be near impossible for the last 15-plus years. He’s the Mariano Rivera of golf, having converted 53 of 57 opportunities when he has at least a share of the lead after 54 holes.

Three birdies on the back nine gave the Little Swede That Could a chance, though, as he pulled to within one of Woods with two holes to play.

After watching Sergio Garcia dump two shots into the water at the par-3 17th hole, Lingmerth stiffed his tee shot to the traditional front right pin position to inside 8 feet.

Only the 25-year-old rookie making just his 13th career start on the PGA TOUR missed the putt, jamming it through the break.

“I had a good look at it, and I thought it was a right edge putt,” Lingmerth said. “I just pushed it a hair, and left it hanging a little high.”

That meant Lingmerth needed to do what only five players were able to do all day: Make birdie on the 18th.

With water left, Lingmerth left his tee shot out to the right, the ball landing in the rough and leaving him a tough angle to the front left pin.

He again missed right, leaving himself 61 feet from the hole.

Those are things trying to catch Woods can do.

Lingmerth made sure to get his putt to the hole, but it ran 12 feet past. Game over.

“If you would have asked me if I would have taken a 72 before the final round I probably would have tried to do better instead of taking that,” he said. “I really wasn't trying to chase (Tiger) too much.  I was trying to do my own thing and I ended up having a chance there towards the end. I was just trying to shoot a good score.”

The good news for Lingmerth is that while his score wasn’t good enough to win, it was good enough to secure his job for next year.

By finishing second, he earned more than $700,000, which combined with the more than $550,000 he’d already banked this season, locks up his card for 2013-14.

“They’re are all positives,” Lingmerth said. “I've never been in that position before. A lot of the big names were up on the leaderboard, so it was fun to contend with those guys, and I felt comfortable out there all day and all week. If I get a chance again, I hope I can take it to another level.”

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Four birdies over his final six holes left Rory McIlroy feeling good about his game, but the ending was also bittersweet.

"I didn't play the par 5s particularly well," said McIlroy, who was a collective 4 under on them for the week but also 3 over on the ninth hole alone at TPC Sawgrass. "You play (No. 9) at level par and you're 10 under for the tournament and you're up there."

On the one hand, McIlroy made it to the weekend at THE PLAYERS Championship after missed cuts in his first three trips here. On the other, he struggled with his putter on the weekend and that took him out of contention.

McIlroy, who shot 2-under 70 on Sunday, missed eight putts from inside 10 feet over the last two days, including three in the final round.

He'd come into the week having made three adjustments to his putter, the most recent of which came this week with a little more loft to help him get the ball rolling on the Bermudagrass.

McIlroy says he'll stick with it, however, because the problem was his stroke more than the equipment. His putting coach, Dave Stockton, agrees. "He likes to forward press like I do," Stockton said. "I just felt like that would get him to roll the ball better, and he did for the first round. In terms of mechanics, we didn't change anything."

Said McIlroy: "I just didn't hole them. I struggled a little bit reading them, and I got a bit indecisive. Over the course of the week, if you keep seeing putts miss, it's hard to visualize them going in the hole when you're reading them, and that was sort of the problem this week."

Unlike past years, his strategy wasn't. McIlroy left the driver in the bag more often than in past trips here and the result led to his best week yet at TPC Sawgrass, where he finished at 7 under.

Not that he's grown any fonder of Pete Dye's signature course.

"I'm not sure I love any course," he said. "A golf course is a golf course, but there are still a few golf courses that I like more than this one."

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Only once has there been a three-way tie going into the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship -- in 1985 Hale Irwin, Calvin Peete and D.A. Weibring shared the top spot before Peete shot 66 to win by three.

Don't be surprised if something similar happens this year. Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia have both won here before. So has Stenson, who is a shot back of Woods, Garcia and the other leader rookie David Lingmerth.

Speaking of Lingmerth, only three times in the 39 previous years of this tournament has a player shot all four rounds in the 60s. Lingmerth is the only player to have done so through the first three this week.

The best finish by a rookie here? A tie for third by Fulton Allem in 1988 and Camilo Villegas in 2003.

As for Woods and Garcia, Woods is 52-for-56 on the PGA TOUR when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes. Garcia? He's just 3-for-9.

Also of note: Woods has posted rounds of par or better 21 of 23 times on TOUR this season. With the wind kicked up and the golf course playing firm and fast by the time the final groups tee off, who knows, par might be good enough.

Stenson, meanwhile, has performed well here before -- when he won in 2009, he closed with a 66.

This season, Stenson already has a runner-up in Houston and a tie for eighth at Bay Hill on his resume.

Who do you think will win? Discuss below.

Hunter Mahan tries to locate his ball on the par-4 15th.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- One minute, Hunter Mahan was moving up the leaderboard. The next, he was looking up at a tree.

Mahan's tee shot on the par-4 15th hole sailed left and into the trees Saturday. The only problem was, it never came down.

Mahan identified the ball through the help of binoculars and was forced to take a drop before eventually making double bogey on the hole.

"The wind started really blowing," he said. "I was hoping it would blow my ball out."

Mahan birdied the next hole, but gave it right back with a bogey on the par-3 17th, where he three-putted from just inside 30 feet after barely reaching the island green.

On 18, the weirdness continued. His drive settled up against the side of the cart path. Mahan was allowed relief and went to make par, capping a 71 to get within four of the lead.

Said Mahan: "It was the wildest last four holes."

But four he was able to get in before the horn sounded.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Eight years ago, Fred Funk made history by becoming the oldest player to win THE PLAYERS Championship at 48 years, 9 months and 14 days.

Sunday, Jeff Maggert has a chance to eclipse that.

Maggert, who turned 49 on Feb. 20 of this year, shot a 6-under 66 Saturday, coming within one of matching his career-low at TPC Sawgrass.

He'll enter Sunday within reach of the lead at 9 under with 18 holes to go.

Asked what his expectations were coming into the week, Maggert joked, "To make the cut."

"I'm still very competitive on the inside and want to play well every week, but it's just tough, just trying to keep it together and keep your health in good shape," he continued. "One week my wrist hurts, the next week my shoulder hurts, so I'm working my way through it."

Maggert came into this week without so much as a top 25 on his resume this season, and he'd broken 70 just once in his last 24 rounds.

Saturday, however, he was spectacular, going out in 31 and charging up the leaderboard after five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the front nine.

Maggert added two more on Nos. 10 and 16 before making his lone bogey of the day on the final hole, where he missed the green left then hit his bunker shot across the green.

He also needed just 22 putts.

In 19 previous appearances in THE PLAYERS, Maggert has just two top 10s -- both third-place finishes in 1994 and 2000. His best career score here was a 65 in the opening round in 1994.

Can he see himself winning?

"That's why I'm here," said Maggert, who came into the week fourth in driving accuracy and 40th in greens in regulation. "We've still got that in our blood. This course in particular probably really suits my style of game at this point in my career. I feel I can come out and hit the ball well and shoot a good score."