As anticipated, the primary spherical of The Gamers Championship produced thrilling drama. From hole-outs, to blow ups, to numerous balls within the water, Thursday at TPC Sawgrass didn’t disappoint.
Right here is every little thing you have to know by means of 18 holes.
Spherical 1 Scores:
T1. Lucas Glover -6 — 66
T1. J.J. Spaun -6 — 66
T1. Camilo Villegas -6 — 66
T4. Min Woo Lee -5 — 67
T4. Billy Horschel -5 — 67
T4. Rory McIlroy -5 — 67
T4. Akshay Bhatia -5 — 67
T4. Max McGreevy -5 — 15
T9. Chandler Phillips -4 — 68
T9. Alex Smalley -4 — 68
T9. Stephan Jaeger -4 — 68
T9. Aaron Rai -4 — 68
T9. Bud Cauley -4 —68
T9. Emiliano Grillo -4 — 68
T9. Adam Hadwin -4 — 16
T18. Scottie Scheffler -3 — 69
T18. 12 others -3 — 69
Takeaways:
Lucas Glover closes with scorching end
Lucas Glover arrived on the par-4 fifteenth gap sitting at 2-under par. 4 holes later, he walked off the golf course sitting atop the leaderboard, because the 2009 U.S. Open champion made 4 straight birdies to finish his day.
Glover on his closing stretch:
“On 15, I had a fantastic quantity, in order that was a inexperienced mild. 16, for those who hit it within the fairway you’re feeling like you need to make a 4. I drew an excellent lie within the left tough. On 17, I occurred to know a putt from years previous hitting it there and over-reading it. Then 18, wind switched; I had assist swiftly. It was an 8-iron quantity and ended up hitting a 9-iron. Then gravity sort of took over for me and pulled it down there to the left, which it does to that gap location for those who simply get the appropriate quantity.”
The 45-year-old hit 11-of-14 fairways on Thursday, one thing you could do to have success at TPC Sawgrass. He then hit 13-of-18 greens and ranked tenth in strokes gained placing. That’s the way you get the job finished on the Stadium Course.
Glover’s final top-10 at The Gamers got here in 2017, when he tied for sixth. He’s hoping to do significantly better than that this week.
Jordan Spieth’s loopy entrance 9
Jordan Spieth put collectively an unimaginable scorecard on his opening 9 holes, which included hole-out eagles on each the par-5 eleventh and par-5 sixteenth. But it surely was not all roses. He made a double-bogey six after discovering the water off the tee on the par-4 14th. He additionally three-putted the seventeenth, dropping a shot on the well-known island inexperienced. All of it added as much as a 2-under 34, and Spieth finally signed for a 2-under 70 — a strong rating for any opening spherical at TPC Sawgrass.
Higher but, Spieth, who didn’t play from late August to early February because of a wrist damage, mentioned he feels good about his well being now that he has performed in 4 occasions already this season.
“I’m very enthusiastic about that, so that enables me to really feel like I can exit proper now and push it a bit, once I couldn’t the primary few weeks, first few occasions of the season,” Spieth mentioned.
“I needed to sort of rebuild stuff from a number of months of nothing, and it wasn’t like I used to be coming again to one thing that was already nice proper earlier than. I used to be in some actually unhealthy habits for a yr and a half.”
Spieth has not received a event for the reason that 2022 RBC Heritage, nevertheless it seems to be just like the three-time main winner is trending in the appropriate path. Let’s see if he can stick with it this weekend.
Rory McIlroy slaps collectively strong spherical
Rory McIlroy hit solely 4-of-14 fairways, with a lot of his drives lacking to the appropriate. Often his robust swimsuit, the Northern Irishman additionally had struggles off the tee final week at Bay Hill. He solely hit 42-percent of his fairways on the API, rating fiftieth within the discipline in that metric. Extra of the identical adopted on Thursday, as McIlroy ranked sixty fifth in strokes gained off the tee.
“I definitely didn’t drive it the best way I needed to. Didn’t hit it in as many fairways as I might have favored. Yeah, I believe with the greens being so receptive, you may get away with it a bit bit. I’m not going to have the ability to get away with it for the remainder of the week. Form of rode my luck on the market a bit bit,” McIlroy defined.
“However I’m making an attempt to hit this minimize shot into play. Lacking proper off the tee right here on any gap is manner higher than lacking left. Simply kind of hitting this minimize kind of up into the wind, and clearly you don’t have to hit it too.”
But, his restoration photographs have been sensational, particularly his punch out from the pine straw on the 18th. McIlroy hit a low screamer, which carried on to the entrance portion of the inexperienced. His ball settled able that anybody from the golf green would take, roughly seven ft beneath the opening. He then knocked it in for a birdie and now sits one stroke behind the lead.
Scottie Scheffler lurking after “okay spherical”
Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler made 4 birdies and one bogey on the par-4 tenth gap en path to a 3-under 69.
“I really feel okay concerning the spherical,” Scheffler assessed.
“I believe the golf course is taking part in good. There’s punishment on the market with the heavy tough, and clearly a number of hazards. A little bit of a breeze this afternoon. General felt like I did some respectable issues on the market and gave myself some probabilities.”
He did miss some golden alternatives down the stretch, comparable to birdie probabilities on the fifteenth, seventeenth, and 18th holes. As soon as once more, Scheffler misplaced strokes to the sector together with his putter. He’ll want his flat stick with warmth up a bit this weekend if he hopes to safe a 3rd straight Gamers Championship.
Justin Decrease makes essentially the most unimaginable par you’ll ever see
Justin Decrease made one heck of a 3 on the par-3 seventeenth gap.
After discovering the water off the tee, Decrease went to the drop zone and proceeded to gap out for a 3. There are not any footage on a scorecard, however Decrease will keep in mind that par save endlessly.
Max Homa, Viktor Hovland proceed to wrestle
Each Max Homa and Viktor Hovland look utterly misplaced.
Homa, who has seen his Official World Golf Rating plummet over the previous 12 months, shot a 7-over 79 on Thursday. He misplaced virtually 4 strokes on strategy, hitting solely 5 greens in regulation. His first 9 holes could possibly be described as a nightmare, as Homa went out with a 6-over 42, which included double bogies on the par-4 4th and par-5 ninth holes. He additionally dropped photographs on the par-5 2nd and the par-4 fifth — making bogies on the par-5s at TPC Sawgrass is rarely a recipe for fulfillment.
Hovland, in the meantime, is the one participant within the discipline who failed to interrupt 80.
The enduring picture of his opening spherical got here on the fifteenth gap, the place Hovland airmailed his drive into the timber. He then bought down on his abdomen to seize his golf ball, with the higher half of his physique entrenched within the foliage.
Hovland went on to make a double-bogey on the fifteenth. He then bounced again with a birdie on the benign sixteenth, however that proved to be his final par-breaker of the day.
The Norwegian’s spherical turned for the more severe on his ultimate 9 — the entrance facet at TPC Sawgrass — as he made a triple bogey seven on the fifth and a double bogey six on the sixth. Like that, Hovland sunk to the underside of the leaderboard and can want a Herculean effort on Friday to make the minimize.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Observe him on X @jack_milko.