The Players Championship: Sergio Garcia two ahead as Rory McIlroy struggles to reach the opening round 79 | Golf news

2008 champion Sergio Garcia holds a two-shot lead over Brian Harman after opening day at The Players; Defending Champion Rory McIlroy 14 Strokes Back After Fighting For 79 Over Seven – Watch Live Friday Starting At 11:30 AM on Sky Sports The Players

Sergio Garcia produced a brilliant finish to open up a two-shot lead after The Players first round, as Rory McIlroy’s title defense got off to a terrible start.

Garcia followed up back-to-back birdies with an eagle on the final hole to close out a seven under 65 and set a clubhouse goal that couldn’t be matched at TPC Sawgrass, with starter Brian Harman as his closest rival after one round. opening. 67.

Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry are within three of the pace alongside Corey Conners, while Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood, the top two at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, both started with a 69 of three-under par.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson started his week with a one-over-73 as McIlroy fell back 14 strokes after equaling the worst start of a defending champion at The Players with 79 in the opening round.

Playing alongside McIlroy and 2018 champion Webb Simpson, Garcia opened with five pairs in a row before following a 20-foot birdie at 15 by hitting the next pair five to reach the corner at 33.

Garcia rallied from a three-putt bogey in the first by making a two-putt gain on the second par five, and the Spaniard then signed his round in style by following birdies in the seventh and eighth with a 20-foot eagle. in the ninth par five.

Harman topped par after eight holes, but registered six birdies over eight holes to get within two of the leader, while Lowry also went five under until he nullified a birdie-two on the iconic 17 by boging his final hole. .

Fitzpatrick was five under par after 10 holes, but he made a pair of three putts on the next par five and scoffed at 12, before canceling a chip-in birdie on 14 with another three putt on 17.

McIlroy opened with a double bogey six at par four 10th after hooking his drive into the trees and having to make a drop, with a three-put bogey at 13 and followed by an ugly quad bogey at 18 after sending two. balls in the water.

The four-time Major League Champion came around the corner at 43, the highest of his career on the PGA Tour, with McIlroy making back-to-back birdies from the first with successive bogeys on his next two holes.

McIlroy briefly stopped the rot with a 12-foot birdie in the fifth, only to make three putts from 25 feet and a bogey on the ninth, his last hole, to equal the first-round score posted by Sandy Lyle in his title defense. in 1988.

Byeong Hun An put four balls in the water at 17 on his way to an octuple-bogey 11, the second highest ever recorded at the hole, while Henrik Stenson propped up the leaderboard after battling for 85 in the first round. .

The game was suspended due to darkness at 6.32pm. M. Local time (11.32 p.m. GMT), and those who were unable to finish their rounds would return on Friday at 7.30 a.m. M. The second round will begin as scheduled at 6:45 a.m. M. (11:45 am GMT) on Friday.

Watch the Players Championship all week live on Sky Sports’ dedicated channel: Sky Sports The Players. Live coverage continues on Friday from 11:30 a.m. M. At Sky Sports Golf.