As expected, the first round of the Player Championship produced thrilling drama. From hole out to explosions to countless balls underwater, we didn't disappoint on TPC sawgrass on Thursday.
This is everything you need to know about 18 holes.
Round 1 Score:
T1. Lucas Glover-6 – 66
T1. JJ Spaun -6 – 66
T1. Kamilo Vilgas-6 – 66
T4. Min Woo Lee -5 – 67
T4. Billy Horchel-5 – 67
T4. Rory McIlroy -5 – 67
T4. Akshay Bhatia -5 – 67
T4. Max McGreevy -5 – 15
T9. Chandler Phillips-4 – 68
T9. Alex Smary-4 – 68
T9. Stephan Jaeger -4 – 68
T9. Aaron Ry-4 – 68
T9. Budkorey-4 —68
T9. Emiliano Grillo-4 – 68
T9. Adam Hadwin-4 – 16
T18. Scotty Schaeffler-3-69
T18. 12Other-3 – 69
Takeout:
Lucas Glover closes with a hot finish
Lucas Glover has arrived at par 4 hole 15, sitting on a 2-under par. After four holes he left the golf course, sitting on the leaderboard.
His closing stretch glober:
“There were a lot of people at 15, so it was a green light. 16, if you hit it on the fairway, you feel you should make four. I drew a good lie on the rumble on the left. At 17, I happened to know the putt in the past years and bumped into it and read too much. Then 18, the wind switched. I suddenly helped. It was an eight iron number, and eventually I hit a nine iron. Then something like gravity took over for me and pulled it to the left.
The 45-year-old hit the 11th 11th fairway on Thursday. This is what you have to do to succeed in TPC Sawgrass. He then hit an 18th green and ranked 10th in strokes. That's how you get the job done on the stadium course.
Glover's final top ten players came in 2017 when he came in sixth place. He wants to do much better than this week.
Jordan Spieth's Crazy Front Nine
Jordan Spieth has put together an incredible scorecard for his opening nine holes. Hall Out Eagle Included Par 5 11th and Par 5 on both the 16th. But it wasn't all roses. He had six double bogeys after finding water from the tee on the 14th of the par 4. He also shaved three times over the 17th to drop a shot into the greenery of the famous island. It all went 2 under 34, and Spieth eventually signed 2 under 70. This is a solid score for the opening round at TPC Sawgrass.
Better yet, Spieth, who didn't play from late August to early February due to a wrist injury, said he feels good about his health now that he's already played in four events this season.
“I'm so excited about it that I can feel like I can go outside right now and push a little when the first few events of the season weren't possible in the first few weeks,” Spieth said.
“I had nothing in a few months. It wasn't like I've already returned to something great. I've been in some really bad habits for a year and a half.”
Spieth hasn't won the tournament since the 2022 RBC heritage, but it appears that the three major winners are heading in the right direction. Let's see if he can keep it this weekend.
Rory McIlroy slaps a solid round together
Rory McIlroy hit only four of 14 fairways, with many of his drives not on the right. Usually his strong suit, the Northern Irishman, fought from the tee last week at Bay Hill. He ranks 50th on the field on that metric as he only hit 42% of fairways in the API. The same continued on Thursday as McIlroy ranked 65th in the stroke he got from the tee.
“I certainly didn't drive it the way I wanted. I didn't hit it on as many fairways as I wanted. Yeah, I think I can get away a little because the Greens are so receptive. I can't get away with it for the rest of the week, McIlroy explained.
“But I'm trying to push this cut shot into play. The immediate missing from the tee on top of the hole is far better than the missing left. You just slam this cut into the wind and obviously you don't need to hit it either.”
However, his recovery shot was sensational. Especially his punches out from a pine straw on the 18th. McIlroy hit a low screamer that took over to the front of the green. His ball settled in a position where everyone on the fairway was about seven feet below the hole. He then knocked it in for a birdie and now sits one stroke behind the lead.
Scotty Scheffler lurks after the “OK Round”
Two-time defending champion Scotty Schaeffler made four birdies and one bogey on the par 4 10th hole on his way to a 3-under 69.
“I feel like I'm fine with the round,” Schaeffler rated.
“I think the golf course is playing well. There's a heavy rough and punishment, and obviously there's a lot of danger. There's a bit of a wind blowing this afternoon. Overall, I felt like I've done some decent things there and gave myself some chance.”
He missed out on golden opportunities in stretches, including birdie chances on the hole on the 15th, 17th and 18th. Again, Schaeffler lost his stroke to the field with his putter. He needs his flat stick to heat a little this weekend if he wants to secure a third straight player championship.
Justin Lower makes the most incredible par you've ever seen
Justin Lower made three ones on the par 3 17th hole.
After finding water in the tee, go to the drop zone below and I drilled holes for three. There are no photos on the scorecard, but the photos below remember that savings forever.
Viktor Hovland, Max Homa continues to struggle
It appears that both Max Homa and Viktor Hovland are completely lost.
Homa, who saw his official world golf rankings plummeted over the past 12 months, shot a 79 on Thursday. He lost almost four strokes on the approach and only hit five greens on the regulation. His first nine holes could be described as nightmares. Homa went out in 6 over 42. He also dropped shots on the PAR-5 second and PAR-4 fifth. Making bogies with PAR-5S with TPCSawgrass is by no means a successful recipe.
Hovland, meanwhile, is the only player on the field that has failed to beat the 80.
A permanent image of his opening round was on hole 15, where Hofland was airing a drive to the tree. He then I went down on his stomach to grab his golf ballthe upper half of his body is settled in the leaves.
Hovland continued to make double bogies on the 15th. He then bounced off with a birdie on the benign 16th, which proved to be his last par breaker of the day.
The Norwegian round got worse with his final nine – the front side of the TPC Sawgrass – he made a triple bogey 7 on the 5th and a double bogey 6 on the 6th. As such, Hofland is sinking to the bottom of the leaderboard and will require Hercules' efforts to make the cut on Friday.
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
