McGirt, Hughes tied for lead at Players Championship
PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Mackenzie Hughes and William McGirt fired identical 67s to take the co-lead after the first round of The Players Championship as Sergio Garcia aced No. 17 in his first event since winning the Masters.
Alex Noren, of Sweden, Spain’s Jon Rahm, J.B. Holmes and Chez Reavie shot fourunder 68s and are one stroke back at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
“Very pleased. One of those days where I kept out of trouble,” said Hughes, of Canada. “When I missed the greens, I did it in the right spots and when I needed a par I was able to do it.”
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Francesco Molinari of Italy head a list of 11 players who shot 69 and are two strokes off the lead.
American Phil Mickelson, defending champion Jason Day of Australia, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott of Australia are among those who shot 70 and are three strokes behind. Day, however, made three bogeys over his last four holes and had to settle for a two-under score.
World No.1 Dustin Johnson tops a large group at 71 that also includes German Bernhard Langer, who at 59 is the oldest player in the tournament.
“My day is kind of summed up on the first hole when I one-hopped it into the flag and it came off the green and I made bogey,” Johnson said.
“That’s just kind of how my day went. I could never really get any momentum. I hit some good shots then I would lip-out the putt.”
Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Thomas, and Garcia all shot 73.
Garcia’s round was highlighted by a hole in one on the island hole No. 17. Garcia is the second to achieve the feat in as many years following Willy Wilcox’s previous ace on the par-three.
Garcia said it was nice to post an ace after getting off to a rocky beginning. He is just the eighth player to make a hole in one in Players Championship history.
McGirt had three birdies on the front nine and eagled both of the par-fives on the back nine to offset two bogeys. Justin MADRID: Barcelona defender Gerard Pique’s plans as part of a consortium for a new World Cup of tennis event have been backed by leading players such as Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Pique was in the Spanish capital on Monday and Tuesday this week with negotiations ongoing on when and where such a tournament could fit into the packed tennis schedule.
The plans would see the whole tournament take place in one location over a maximum of 10 days.
“I think that it’s a really exciting idea. If it comes off, I think it would be a very, very good thing for tennis,” said Murray after his defeat to Borna Coric at the Madrid Masters on Thursday.
“Tennis needs an event like that, and I think it would be very good.”
Such a tournament could spell more problems for the much-criticized Davis Cup, which currently has threeday matches spread over February, April, September and November.
As a result many of the sport’s biggest stars have turned their back on the competition in order to prioritize preparations for the Grand Slams.
“For many years they have been static,” Nadal said of the Davis Cup organizers, the International Tennis Federation. “They haven’t moved with the times or looked for new solutions.”
“Pique is part of a group that wants to create a World Cup that would be a great and very interesting tournament to compete in. “It would be a fantastic initiative if it goes through and hopefully it will.”