PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — In a place like TPC Sawgrass, instincts can be a player’s best friend or worst enemy. That little voice in your head telling you whether to push the envelope or play the numbers game can confuse your intentions and lead to second-guessing.
That’s why anyone arriving without making a full commitment should make a commitment to depart from the Jacksonville area on a Friday flight. That’s why there were five rounds of 80 or higher on Thursday’s The Players Championship leaderboard, and why Keegan Bradley wrote a 9 on his scorecard.
This is why Scottie Scheffler is the only successful defending champion in the tournament’s history at TPC Sawgrass, and why no player has ever won more than once.
That’s a pessimistic view, but there’s also optimism, and no one knows it better than Justin Thomas. The man who lifted the gold trophy in 2021 and tied the course record with last season’s second-round 62 (a 16-shot improvement from his first-round 78 in the 2025 championship) is one stroke behind after 18 holes.
It’s hard to suggest that the third round of a player’s season is especially important, but it felt that way to Thomas. Though bruised and battered by two straight rounds of 79 in his debut at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Thomas bounced back with his unique body punch and shot a 4-under 68 in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
Being in Ernie’s shoes requires ferocious strength, sheer determination, and a survival of the fittest mentality, but Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass will test you in a different way. It makes me think. That becomes a question. You’ll be able to play the type of golf where every shot requires an answer.
On Thursday, Thomas passed his exam with flying colors, even though his study habits were disrupted by the offseason reinstatement process.
“It’s just the kind of place that visually suits my eye,” Thomas said. “I feel like I can work with that without even having to go out there. And I can imagine them, like, they’re just there…moving the ball toward the fairway and then, on some holes, hitting it most of the way off the tee to gain a certain amount of yards to the green.”
“This course feels like you’re playing quite backwards and looking for where the pin is to see what you want to put on the green. This course is the only place where every shot requires your attention, and not only can you get rewarded, but you can get exposed right away.”
Thomas roared out of the gate furious after making three straight birdies from within 10 feet on the first three holes. Optimism grew, but it quickly dissipated. At TPC Sawgrass, it’s easy to roll in one direction in the blink of an eye (just look at Thomas’ first two scores from last year).
His second shot into the par-5 16th fell into the water, resulting in a bogey on the regulation green of the island green, and his difficult last shot felt like he was avoiding a knockout punch when it almost fell into the water again. Missing a birdie putt on the first hole hit him again, and he made par on the second par-5, the 11th hole of the morning.
But then the bell rang. Well, strictly speaking, it’s a horn. While Tommy Fleetwood remained unfazed by the downpour, playing partner Scottie Scheffler was seething with frustration. Thomas backed into the corner and had to make a choice from the restart. His intentions were clear from his strut and shoulder shimmy.
The two-time major champion looked refreshed and rejuvenated, as if the short break had given him a chance to reset his mind. He played the final seven holes at 3 under, with all three birdies coming from within 10 feet.
Although he has moved in the right direction and left his name on the first page of the leaderboard, Thomas understands that he will be pulled in the opposite direction again.
TPC Sawgrass has a knack for punching back. Luckily, so does Thomas.
“It helps. I kind of took a deep breath to myself as I walked out at 9, and like I said, on the inside I was like, ‘I needed that,'” Thomas said. “I feel like I’m playing well at home. I feel like I’m making the right swings. I’m confident in things. But again, until it happens in a game, it’s kind of hard to fully believe that you’re ready. I think that was kind of what I said last week.”
“My main goal is to get through these next few weeks and I really feel like I don’t have to work as hard to get in a good position at Augusta. I’m thin, yes, I know I want to play well and win the next few events, but it’s probably going to be harder to stay focused this week than it has been in weeks. It’s all part of it.”
Segala’s trapeze act
Playing between Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth, Seagala threaded the needle. Beating the fan favorite and the rest of the field, the free-swinging right-hander tied for the late lead at 5 under, highlighted by a start and hole-out eagle on the par-4 12th, but the finish was just as impressive (and typical Seagulla).
The one-time PGA Tour winner missed the fairway to the left on the par-5 16th hole and hit it into a tree. His pitch out second was higher than he would have liked, his ball launched quickly but still hit the fairway. A smart third shot left him at the bottom of the hole and he left the green with a beautiful putt for birdie.
The tee shot on the devilish island green found land but found the wrong section with the pin on the ledge behind. His approach putt left plenty of meat on the bone, but he chewed it up completely with a par save.
My tee shot hit a tree on the 18th, so I scrambled again and hit 4-on, this time aiming for par. Playing the final stretch at 1 under is nothing special, but the way Seagala constructed the score was certainly extraordinary.
“Golf is a fickle game,” Segala said. “All the players here are working hard, and it doesn’t necessarily lead to anything, so it’s really great to see a start like this.”
Schaeffler is suing for rights
It wasn’t a tough battle for the world No. 1, but a birdie at the end helped him put together an even-par round. While his iron play and approach numbers have been debated this week, the weak link Thursday was Schaeffler’s driver — an older model replacing the new one introduced at Bay Hill. He only hit 50% of the fairways, and all seven of his misses fell into either the right rough or the right tree.
But that’s not all. His tee shot on No. 6 (which earned him a birdie) was destined to hit a tree on the right, but it bounced back into the fairway. His second shot on the par-5 second hole (the 11th hole of the day) missed the fairway wood to the right, resulting in bogey just as a birdie was coming in front of him.
This is nothing new for Scheffler, and the consistency of his misses can be seen as a positive, but with the rain making things rough and the leaderboards littered with stars, it’s hard to imagine this issue wasn’t brought up in the post-round practice session, where drivers were mostly hit with clubs.
“I saw some improvements with the new driver, but I just don’t trust it with the different shots I hit, especially off the tee,” he said after the round.
mad max fury scorecard
Max Homa’s first round features include:
- 6 par
- 6 birdies
- 3 bogies
- 2 double bogeys
- 1 eagle
For those counting at home, this amounts to an indescribable 71. Homa got his championship start on the first hole, the par-4 10th, when he holed out from the middle of the fairway and added a birdie on the next hole. That work was quickly ruined by a run of bogeys and double bogeys, starting a brutal midway through the round. Volatility was the name of the game on the scorecards, but Homa noted that the theme going between his ears was forgiveness as he hustled to the finish despite a bogey at the end.
“You really have to have a conversation with yourself that you have to start over,” Homa said. “On some of the doubles, I didn’t do too much wrong. The second double I whiffed on a 3-foot ball, which hurt. But I didn’t hit a bad tee shot, I didn’t hit a bad second shot. I did a good job of burying the shot under the lip and allowing myself a 3-foot bogey.”
Russell Henry’s Dash
The game was suspended at 12:09 p.m. ET due to inclement weather, and the players were instructed to remain in place. Forecasts suggested the system would pass quickly and play would resume soon. But no one told Henry that.
The world No. 6 player was on the side of the green on the par-5 second hole when the horn rang. The first par-4 is a hole where players go in the opposite direction and then head back toward the clubhouse. As the situation worsened, he ran into the clubhouse and ran to the locker room to get food and lighten his load. It wasn’t until Ben Griffin told him that play would resume in four minutes that he ran out the door and returned to the golf course, playing the remaining seven holes at 3 under.
Rory’s rust is obvious.
The opening drive, which produced a ball speed of 187 miles per hour, gave hope that McIlroy was doing well, but his game was a little different. McIlroy, who was resting from his withdrawal from last Saturday’s Arnold Palmer Invitational until Wednesday afternoon’s short practice session, made an uncharacteristic mistake.
A few chip failures on the par 5s stalled his momentum — he played 1 over on the par 5s that day — while the early rounds were dominated by left-handed errors off the tee. All of this added up to a round of 74, a score that the winner of The Players had never carded in the first round.
“Obviously I played on Friday, I didn’t take a ton of time off, but I just felt incredibly rusty,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, I’m glad I made it through the round. If tonight goes well, I’ll be in tomorrow. On that back nine, I was trying to get back to even par for the day, but I just couldn’t quite get there.”
TPC Sawgrass shines in the gray sky
I played this course more than one stroke over par in Round 1, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. A well-organized shot, correct trajectory, and discipline were all needed to effectively round the par 72. At the end of the day, what golf fans want is for good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished.
The facility’s crispness earlier in the week was slightly washed away in the continuing rainstorm, but the course still held its own. Barring more rain in the forecast until Sunday, TPC Sawgrass will have a chance to get its players back to the conditions presented Monday. However, this time it includes thicker and juicier rough.
“I think every time I play Pete Dye’s golf course, I love it even more,” Maverick McNeely said. “This is one of those unique tests that doesn’t favor one type of game, and it’s not a test where you stand on the tee and try to swing as hard as you can.
“Shot value is really important. You have to hit every club in your bag in every possible shape. That’s what people love to see and what pros do with golf balls. There’s a lot of things in the game where you have to shape in the air, and I think Pete is a master at that.”
