Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy on the 18th hole during the first round of the 2023 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
What a group for the first two days of the Players.
World Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were one of the first groups off No. 10 on Thursday morning and each player had a different kind of day.
Scheffler had a boring front nine (Sawgrass’ back nine) as he made nine pars to go out in even-par 36. But then he turned it on with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 before dropping a shot at the par-4 5th. Scheffler finished his day with four birdies on the final five holes to post a 4-under 68, four back of Ramey.
Rahm couldn’t get anything going on the greens. He lost more than two strokes to the field with the flat stick and made just two birdies in his first 18 holes. A bogey at the par-3 eighth, his 17th of the day, pushed him back to 1-under. He failed to birdie the par-5 ninth from nine feet and the Spaniard signed for a 71.
There wasn’t an aspect of McIlroy’s game that was clicking Thursday, but nothing let him down more than the putter. He was dead last in SG: Putting of the 72 players to play in the morning wave, losing 2.628 strokes. A double bogey at the par-4 10th (his first of the day) set the tone for his round. McIlroy posted a 4-over 76, his highest opening round in any tournament since the 2021 Masters.
