Round 1 review: THE PLAYERS Championship
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Sergio Garcia’s 7-under 65 gives him lead after Round 1 at THE PLAYERS
A quick look at Thursday’s first round at THE PLAYERS Championship.
THE LEADERS
Sergio Garcia: The 2008 PLAYERS champion wound back the clock to finish his round birdie, birdie, eagle and card a 7-under 65. It was his 25th round in the 60s at THE PLAYERS – a tournament record.
STORYLINES
Rough day for Rory: Defending champion Rory McIlroy headlined a bunch of big names who had a disaster of a day. McIlroy finished with a 7-over 79 in the opening round – his career worst round at THE PLAYERS – with a quadruple bogey eight on the 18th hole particularly bruising. Several players failed to break 80.
Phil still has some thrills: Phil Mickelson hit 11 of 14 fairways en route to a stress-free 1-under 71. The 2007 champion beat Rory McIlroy by eight, Tony Finau by seven and Rickie Fowler by six.
Hovland hands himself costly penalty: Norway’s Viktor Hovland escaped disqualification, but was assessed a two-stroke penalty after signing his scorecard when he was alerted to a ball-marking error from those back in his home country.
Steve Stricker jets in for late call up: Veteran Steve Stricker jumped on a jet from Naples after being added to the field when Justin Rose withdrew at the 11th hour before carding impressive 2-under 70.
NOTABLES
RORY McILROY (79) – Worst ever round at TPC Sawgrass for defending champion.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (69) – FedExCup leader opens with his eighth under-par score in nine rounds at the event.
DUSTIN JOHNSON (73) – Stands T60. His T5 in 2019 marked his first top-10 in 11 starts at the event.
JORDAN SPIETH (70) – Continuing his resurgence the Texan carded just one bogey.
PHIL MICKELSON (71) – Turned back the clock and hit 11 of 14 fairways.
JUSTIN THOMAS (71) – Was 2-over at the turn but came home strong to get into the red.
COLLIN MORIKAWA (71) – Was 3-under through 15 before bogeys on 16 and 17 came late.
JON RAHM (72) – Rebounded after sitting 3-over through 10 holes.
WORTH WATCHING
BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Number of bogey-free rounds Thursday. Tom Hoge’s 3-under 69 the only blemish free effort.
2 – Eagles by leader Sergio Garcia who connected on two par-5s. The 16th and 9th holes.
35 – Balls in the water on the iconic par-3 17th hole.
11 – Ben An’s score on the 17th after hitting four balls in the water
154 – Yards left for Canadian Corey Conners on the par-4 14th before he holed out for eagle.
43 – Rory McIlroy’s score on the back nine of TPC Sawgrass – the equal worst start of his TOUR career.
SUPERLATIVES
STROKES GAINED LEADERS: Off-the-tee (Jordan Spieth, 2.119); Tee-to-Green (Matthew Fitzpatrick, 6.762); Approach-the-Green (Sergio Garcia, 3.772); Around-the-Green (Matthew Fitzpatrick, 3.961); Putting (Billy Horschel, 5.073); Total (Sergio Garcia, 8.805).
LONGEST DRIVE: Cameron Davis, 370 yards, 14th hole
LONGEST PUTT: Branden Grace, 65 feet, 1 inches, 4th hole
LONGEST HOLE-OUT: Corey Conners, 146 yards for an eagle, 14th hole.
MOST BIRDIES: 8 – Brian Harman (67).
BOGEY-FREE ROUNDS: Tom Hoge (69)
HARDEST HOLE: Par-4 18th. Played to 4.416 with just 10 birdies, 42 bogeys, 8 double bogeys and 5 others.
