DeChambeau mesmerized. Spieth and Mickelson surprised. McIlroy and Garcia shocked. In other words, it was an average round one at THE PLAYERS Championship.
As Bryson DeChambeau prepared to hit his second shot, a 9-iron, to the 16th green, NBC’s Roger Maltbie said, “He’s going to have to call the FAA for permission.”
Maltbie could have said that earlier and often as DeChambeau hit towering shots that floated almost into the clouds. It was fun to watch.
DeChambeau repeatedly got himself into trouble and got himself out of trouble, and finished at 3-under par, in seventh place after Thursday’s opening round on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. He’s tied with a resurgent Lee Westwood, Patton Kizzire, Rory Sabbitini, Denny McCarthy and Tom Hoge.
DeChambeau’s worst shot of the day was his tee ball at the 9th, where he found the water that crosses the fairway. During the rest of the round, his fans must have held their breath a few times, like on the 7th, when it looked like he might be in the trees far to the right of the hole, but he was actually on a cart path. Or when he hit his tee shot on the 14th that was intended to clear the moguls on the right, but instead hit something – a tree most likely -- and dropped down onto a slope. He parred the hole anyway, specializing in Houdini-like golf shots all afternoon.
DeChambeau goes at shots to hard that Maltbie finally said he was tired just from watching the practice swings. If nothing else, it was monumentally entertaining.
The best quote from DeChambeau while playing came at the 16th when he said, “Driver 9-iron!” That was in case we wanted to know.
The three biggest surprises were Rory McIlroy, who had a horrible day, Sergio Garcia who is leading at 7-under par and 50-year-old Phil Mickelson who posted 1-under par. And we can finally stop posting missing posters for Jordan Spieth. He’s not 100% back, but we can at least see him coming down the road.
McIlroy finished with an uncharacteristic 79, 7-over par. Most of the damage was done when he doubled the 10th, which was his first hole, and the 18th, which was his 9th hole. But he had three additional bogeys and only three birdies to counter them.
He had stated last week and earlier this week that his game was off and that he was having a hard time managing where his swing plane was, which he described as inside on the way back and outside on the way through, opposite of what if should be. He will have to be considerably under par on Friday just to get back to even. Big ask.
Sergio Garcia, THE PLAYERS champ in 2008 and Masters champ in 2017, is leading the pack. He played in the morning rounds which were not televised, unless you had the Every Shot Live app going, which was free on Thursday.
“Valderrama (a famous golf course in Spain) and this course are some of my top favorite ones,” he said after his round was completed. “For some reason they just, it just kind of fits my eye. I see what I want to do pretty much every hole and then it's a matter of doing it, but it definitely I feel more comfortable.”
The greens and fairways provide clear targets, which he likes.
“You have to drive the ball well, fairways are not massive, greens are not very big, so you have to be accurate with your irons,” he noted. “It feels like, if you are hitting greens, you are having birdie chances.”
On the fate of his good friend McIlroy, he simply noted that on the Stadium Course a player doesn’t have to be far off in his game to get severely penalized.
Phil Mickelson turned the clock back a bit by turning in a 1-under par 71 while many younger players were struggling. Mickelson’s now over 50 and won the first two PGA Tour Champions tournaments he entered last summer.
“I haven't played well lately, and I just want to play well,” he said after his round. “It just feels good to play good golf, and there's nothing physically inhibiting me from playing good golf.”
He assessed his own game by saying that his putting and his iron play just weren’t as sharp as they used to be. Recently he dropped out of the top 100 in the world rankings where he has been since 1993. It’s hard to imagine any golfer being that good for as long as he has. Many say that’s a record that will never be touched.
Mickelson’s next challenge will be to make the cut, and he has a good chance, although as many golfers found out today, the course can be brutal. Many past champs were on the punishment end of it Thursday including Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar.
Jordan Spieth, whose game has been so far gone that even google maps can’t find it, has returned. And what a place to finally find fairways.
“I think I hit 12 of 14 fairways out here, and I pulled driver around the place, so I don't know if I've ever done that here,” Spieth said after his round.
He said his good play last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational had given him confidence for today. He said he was finally able to trust some shots, like the tee shot on the 18th, instead of hoping a tee shot would find the fairway.
“You have to play this course almost like a U.S. Open venue, if you don't get a perfect number with the right wind, you just can't attack, even if it's a wedge, and just wait for your spots and take advantage of the par-5s,” he noted.
He’s at 2-under par, tied with Patrick Reed, Jason Day, Steve Stricker (another over 50) and nine others.
Can’t wait for round two, can you?
