At the beginning of Thursday, the greens at TPC Sawgrass already looked brown, like they would surely die by the end of the day. There weren’t any remarkably low scores. Five under par was the best anyone could muster.
Then came the cloudburst. A short downpour. It was just enough to give those who had the most holes left to play a slight advantage over all the others.
Maverick McNealy was the first one in, followed by Lee Hodges and Sepp Straka.
“I think every time I play a Pete Dye golf course, I think I like it more,” McNealy said after he finished. “I think it's one of those unique tests where it doesn’t favor any particular type of game, and it’s definitely not one that you stand up on the tee and try and swing as hard as you can.”
He said the course went from being crispy on the first 10 holes to softer greens and what he called perfect scoring conditions for two or three holes.
“Then felt that wind start gusting out of the north, temperature dropped, got dry,” he explained.
Lee Hodges is also finished at 5-under par.
“There’s a very few people that play this game that are good every week,” he said. “I’ve just been trying to wait my time. I knew my game was there. I knew that me and my team were doing the right things. So, I was just kind of waiting for it all to come together, honestly.”
For any golfer, it’s a great week for that to happen.
Sepp Straka was the third player to come in at 5-under par, and others were at that number but still on the golf course.
Sahith Theegala and Austin Smotherman got to 5-under with a few holes to play.
It’s crowded with quality just behind them. Justin Thomas, who was out due to back surgery, is just playing his second tournament in six months.
“Just feels great to get off to a great start at a big tournament, a tournament that I love,” Thomas said. “I always enjoy playing this place. I just feel like it’s just a fun course to play.”
Thomas won the tournament five years ago.
“I play this course backwards,” Thomas added. “A decent bit of looking where the pin is to see what I want into the green, so on and so forth. It’s a place that just requires your sole attention on every shot, and you can get exposed pretty quickly just as well as you can get rewarded.”
Earlier in the day, Golf Channel said that Ludvig Aberg, who lives in Ponte Vedra, had the closest to the pin shot on the 17th. Of course, he gets nothing for that except the knowledge that he hit to within 18 inches of the hole.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy who experienced back problems last week and withdrew, played on Thursday. He was 2-over par, and if he does not improve his score, could be in danger of missing the cut tomorrow.
Scottie Scheffler was even par for the day. That was good for a tie for 41st place.
