The opening round of The Players Championship is always a joy, and the effort on Thursday in the 2021 edition of the event did not disappoint. This time a year ago all the chatter was about whether there would even be be a round 2. It’s all about golf, which is a good postponement 12 months later.
Sergio Garcia shot the round of the day (and maybe the tournament) with an early 65, on which we will dive below. And while several stars have struggled tremendously (we’ll dive into that, too), after 18 holes of play, Sergio takes care of a big center at the top of the board.
It turned out early in the day that the 63 that Hideki Matsuyama shot in the first round last year before the event was canceled was nowhere to be found and to achieve anything in the 60s would be Herculean. TPC Sawgrass played somewhat softly, but also extraordinarily fast, and after that Garcia said it was very difficult to determine the greens on the greens.
The 17th, who always plays a major role in this tournament, certainly did not play softly. Justin Thomas, who shot 71, said after his round that it looks like they picked that hole a bit. There was a 9 from Kevin Na and an 11 from Ben An. The last two holes on the course – also the most famous – together played almost 1 stroke above the course mark, and those starting on the first tee had a tantalizing locking experience, although Garcia played it evenly.
Round 1 play has been suspended due to the darkness that has left about two dozen golfers who will have to play a few extra holes before they can start Round 2 on Friday. Let’s take a look at Sergio’s first round as well as who’s chasing him (and who won’t be coming this weekend).
Sergio Garcia (-7): While the 65 may not have been able to convey it completely, it was on a day that the average rose to 74, one of the best golfers in the Players Championship. Sergio made two eagles, including one on the last (9th on the course) to put himself in the driver’s seat to become only the second golfer since 2004 to win this event for a second time (Tiger Woods in 2013 was the other). Garcia has been tremendous from tea to green so far in 2021, and on Thursday he almost led the field into the pit. He will hope that even more difficult conditions will come home so that ball holding can continue to shine.
Brian Harman (-5): Looking for his first PGA Tour tournament since 2017, Harman bounced back from an up-and-down start over the top nine by going 5 at the back to put a 67 on the day. He sits in a beautiful spot on solo 2nd, but will have to pick up his consistency over the last three rounds if he wants to pull it off.
T3. Shane Lowry, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners (-4): An interesting fact about this about Lowry is that the last time he won a PGA Tour tournament was the 2019 Open Championship in which Rory McIlroy started with 79 and missed the cut. Rory opened with 79 on Thursday and will likely miss the cut. All five Lowry professional victories presented over the weekend without Rory. I do not know why I find it so interesting. Fitzpatrick and Conners are two contrasting players who did it the opposite way. Fitzpatrick has a short elite game, but he led the field from tea to green on Thursday. Conners is an unreal ball attack, but he got almost 3 shots with his putter. Both took part in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, and both are a solid track for running tracks (albeit for different reasons).
T 6. Lee Westwood, Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Bryson DeChambeau (-3): Bryson was great again, but it wasn’t just the driver all day. His shot at number 17 was incredible. Back pin, and he hit it left back right at the walkway and just stood up straight before sinking the 12-foot for birdie. As I noticed last week, the driver gives him winding space, but his ability up and down the pocket is tremendous. Excited to see how the next few days go.
T11. Gary Woodland, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed (-2): I did not see this round coming from Spieth. No really, I did not see this round coming. And the way he set it up was even more shocking. Even within his revival, he still struggled with the driver, but he led the field in shots he received Thursday from the tea on a track with a ton of water where he had struggled in the past. He was more than 4 strokes better off the tee than McIlroy, who is perhaps the best driver in golf history. Spieth to win The Players after the ride he did the first few months of 2021 would be perfect.
T26. Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, Collin Morikawa (-1): Some studs in this category. JT was right through the pocket, and I was particularly compelled by the way he hit the driver. That killed his lap, but he streaked it Thursday and flew three of his last eight to stay in it Friday (and beyond).
T42. Jon Rahm (E) and T59. Dustin Johnson (+1): Both were better than field average, but they also expect it to be much better than that. Rahm actually needed par at the last to get in the house under par after a 39 at the front, but he missed a short 5-foot. DJ struggled with his irons all day after correcting the driver of a difficult five-lap. He doubled the par-5 11th, it’s like losing 3 strokes for him. Not out of that, but he’s probably going to need something in the 60’s tomorrow.
T140. Rory McIlroy (+7): It reads bad, but it looks worse. Rory doubled his first hole and hit two in 9th place in the water (the 18th on TPC Sawgrass) before making a four-wheel drive there. There were no silver linings, and now he will have to shoot 67 or 68 on Friday just to see the weekend. His floor remained madly high, even though he insisted he was struggling. On Thursday, the bottom fell out of it.