PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – Most players did not see how well the TPC SAARCGrass players were going to meet in the opening round of the Championship for the upcoming players on Thursday and were faced by them.
Lee Westwood was doing some advance homework on Wednesday night and knew what was in store.
“I was writing a pin [placements] In my book, and you can see that there were some stinkers. “Like I haven’t seen many of these before on Thursday,” Westwood said after shooting 3-under 69.
Phil Mickelson said, “Very Repellant Pin,” after shooting 71.
World No. 3 ranked player Rory McElroy did not suffer so much of tricky course conditions as he was shooting a nightmare 7-79 with his swing.
“They always call this golf course a little superstar killer,” Graeme McDowell said. “I think this golf course has the reputation where the best players in the world can come here and … Rory has had such numbers for years.”
Until Maclero won the tournament two years ago, that is.
However, that form was absent on Thursday, as he played a few holes at TPC Sowergrass, in the same way that many amateur golfers do when they crack at one of the most recognizable courses on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy hit two shots in the water at No. 18 – his ninth hole after starting at No. 10 – and took a quadruple-bogey 8 at the dinging-4 finishing hole.
Number 10, however, did not go so well, either. Maclero kills his tee shot to the left of the fair of trees, lies an untruth and starts with a double bogey. It was the beginning of a miserable day for the Northern Irish.
The round – and McElroy’s 2021 Players Championship – was wrecked by a double on 10 and a quad on 18 that saw him turn 7-over 43.
“Very difficult, especially when you’re trying to figure out as you go on the course,” McElroy said. “You are trying to figure out, but you still know that you are not really sure where the shots are coming from and then trying to eliminate one side of the golf course is the least difficult. ‘
McIlroy’s day was a complete contrast to 2008 players’ championship winner Sergio Garcia, with whom he was paired. Garcia shot 7-under 65 to get into the lead.
“I love Rory; He is an amazing player, ” Garcia said. “In this course, you don’t have to be far to be punished. I told him when we finished, ‘just go from there [Friday] And get it and you never know. ‘I shot 7-under [Thursday], So he can shoot 7-under [Friday] And hopefully make the cut. He is able to do it. ”
Apart from McIlroy, there was a lot of carnage around the TPC Sawgrass, a pretty gentle weather day in the 70s with sunshine, temperatures and only a slight breeze.
Heinrich Stenson scored a 13-over-par 85 to score the day’s high.
Kyle Stanley and Jimmy Walker each posted an 83. So did Byong Hun An, who threw 11 of his 83 shots into the water in the famous island-green, par-3 17 hole for up to four balls.
Earlier, Kevin Na bowled three balls in the water on 17 and actually teased for one of the 8.. Na played the last time 31 times without dropping a hole into the water, citing his back injury in the tournament, withdrawing from the tournament itself. (Insert your own punch line).
Hideki Matsuyama, who had a first-round lead with 63 years before the tournament was canceled, had 13 shots worse than the 76ers on Thursday.
Justin Thomas, after his round of 71, was asked why tournament officials “pinned” the players on Thursday.
“Probably because they weren’t really very excited about how low the score has been over the years,” Thomas said.
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