The Players Round 1: Ace. Albatross. The locals. Splash count on 17.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Players Championship teed off on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass. Notable information from the first round. 

The quick version — the leaders, Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley are at 7-under 65. 

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Tiger Woods is under par. 

We saw two incredible shots. 

A decent day for local golfers. 

The updated leaderboard, check here.  

 

Hole-in-one, straight in the cup! 

We'll get to the albatross, but Ryan Moore's hole-in-one on No. 17 is the stuff of legend. The ball didn't even bounce on the green. Tee shot. Carry. Hole. 

It was just the ninth hole-in-one on 17 in Players history, and first since Sergio Garcia had an opening round ace there in 2017. 

 

 

How'd that Tiger guy do? 

Tiger Woods opened up with a 2-under 70 on Thursday, five shots back over co-leaders Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley. 

 

Albatross alert at The Players! 

For just the fifth time in tournament history, a golfer has record the rare albatross, or double eagle. For those not up to speed on golf terminology, that's three-under par on a hole. 

Harris English knocked in his second shot on the par-5 11th hole on Thursday. It's the third consecutive year that a golfer has recorded the feat, with Brooks Koepka and Rafael Cabrera-Bello pulling it off in 2018 and '17, respectively. They did it on No. 16.

 

 

So close, Jordan 

Jordan Spieth's par putt on the par-3 No. 8 was so close. Like painfully close.

 

 

Those local guys

We've got six golfers at TPC Sawgrass. Here's how they did on Thursday.

Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach: Shot a 1-under 71 for T53. 

Billy Horschel, Ponte Vedra Beach: Best day among the local resident contingent, carding a 3-under 69 for a T13. 

Russell Knox, Ponte Vedra Beach: Finished 2-under 70 for a T35. 

Sam Saunders, Atlantic Beach: Finished with a 3-over 75, a T118.

Vijay Singh, Ponte Vedra Beach: Finished at 1-over 73 and a T86.

Ryan Blaum, Jacksonville Beach: Finished 1-under 71 for a T53. 

 

A DQ for Clark

Wyndham Clark was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after signing for a 4 on on No. 4. He actually shot a 5. 
 

How about 17? 

It was a relatively tame day on the island hole, with just 14 balls taking a plunge. The most carnage seen at the iconic 17 during the opening round over the past 17 years? That would be 50 in the 2007 first round. 

 

A total of 14 balls went into the water during the opening round of The Players on Thursday.

 


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.