The opening round of The Players Championship is always fun, and Thursday’s effort in the 2021 edition of the event did not disappoint. This time a year ago, it was about whether all the chatter was there To be This round 2. At this point, it’s about golf, which is nicely released after 12 months.
Sergio Garcia shot a round in the early 65’s (and maybe a tournament), which we’ll take down. And while some of the stars struggled fiercely (we’ll dive into that too), Sergio 18 makes a great centerpiece at the top of the board after the play holes.
It became clear early that day that the 63 shots Hidaki Matsuama fired in Round 1 before the event was canceled last year were nowhere to be found and to achieve anything in the 60s would be Hercules. TPC Segragras played something soft but very fast, and Garcia later said it was incredibly difficult to spin out the greens.
The 17th, who has always played an acting role in this tournament, certainly didn’t play a soft role. Justin Thomas, who shot the shot, said after his round that it looked like they had made the hole a little higher. There was Kevin Nano 9 and Ben Ann’s 11. The last two holes on the course – even the most famous – played on about 1 stroke joint, and those who started on the first tee had a very tough experience, although Garcia played them too.
The Round 1 game was postponed due to darkness which will require 21 golfers to play some extra holes before they can start Round 2 on Friday. For now, let’s take a look at Sergio’s first round as well as who is chasing him (and who won’t be coming over the weekend).
1. Sergio Garcia (-7): Although 65 may not fully express it, the day when the scoring average rose to almost 74, it was one of the best golfers in the history of the Players’ Championship. Sergio created two eagles, one last (9th on the course), the only other golfer to win the event for the second time since 2004 was to put himself in the driver’s seat (Tiger Woods was second in 2013). Garcia has been tremendous so far in 2021 from tee to green, and on Thursday, he almost advanced in the field. He will come home and hope for more tough situations so that the ball-striking shines.
2. Brian Herman (-5): The second part of the Herman course was very light, shooting on one side where the area of average1 was about 37. The top five days mean a little regression on Friday or Saturday, but it hit him hard enough that you can talk yourself into sticking to it until the end. Herman’s best finish in this tournament is the T8, which was made in both 2015 (when Ricky Fowler won) and 2019 (when Rory McLeroy won).
T. 3. Shane Lori, Matthew Fitzp rick Trick, Corey Kernes Nurse (-4): An interesting fact here about Lori is that the last time she won a PGA Tour event was the 2019 Open Championship in which Rory Michlore opened with a 79 and missed the cut. Rory opened with a 79 on Thursday and will likely miss the cut. Lori’s fifth professional win came in the Rory-Los weekend. I don’t know why I find it so interesting. Fitzpick Rick Trick and Kerner Nurse are two conflicting players who have usually done the opposite. The Fitzpack Rick Trick has an elite short game, but he led the field from tee to green on Thursday. Con Con Nurse is an unreal ball-striker, but he got about 3 strokes with his putter. Both argued at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week and both are tough tough course players (if for various reasons).
T6 Lee Westwood, Tom Hodge, Danny McCarthy, Bryson D. Chambeu (-3): Bryson was great once again, but he wasn’t a driver all day. His shot at No. 17 was incredible. The back pin, and he hit it from left to right from left to right, and he remained standing before sinking a 12-footer for Birdie. As I noticed last week, the driver gives him a wiggle room, but his capacity at the bottom and bottom of the bag is limitless. Excited to see how the next few days go.
T 11. Gary Woodland, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed (-2): I haven’t seen this come from round spit. Not really I haven’t seen this round coming. And the way he built it was even more shocking. Even within his recovery, he is still struggling with the driver, but he picked up T in a stroke on Thursday with a ton of water he had struggled with in the past. He was 4 strokes taller than McLeroy, perhaps the best driver in golf history. Winning the players will be the culmination of what Spith was on for the first few months before 2021.
T26. Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, Colin Morikawa (-1): Some studs in this category. The jetty was solid throughout the bag, and especially the way it hit the driver I am compelled to. He’s hitting his last round, but he bandaged it on Thursday and birdied three of his last eight to stay in it on Friday (and beyond).
T42. John Rahm (E) and T59. Dustin Johnson (+1): Both fields were better than average, but they are also expected to be much better. Rahman needed a par last time to enter the house under a par after 39 at the front, but he missed a short 5-footer. The DJ struggled with his dismissal all day after correcting the driver with a tough five-round pull. He doubled the par-5 11th, which is like losing 3 strokes for him. Not out of it, but he’ll probably need something in the 60s tomorrow.
T 140. Rory McLeroy (+7): It reads bad, but it seemed worse. Rory doubled his first hole and hit it twice in the water before making a quad there on the 9th (18th at TPC Savgrass). There were no silver linings, and now he only has to shoot 67 or 68 to see the weekend on Friday. He insisted that his structure was going crazy as he struggled. On Thursday, he got out of it.
