The Players Championship notebook

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sergio Garcia arrived at TPC Sawgrass’ signature 17th hole amid a languishing round and with mixed bag of success during his career at the par-3 island green.

Garcia added another wild chapter when his 52-degree wedge shot from 123 yards landed six feet shy of the pin, one-hopped inches past the hole and spun back into the cup for an ace.

“I hit a good shot, but it can go there, it can go three yards past. It can do anything,” Garcia said. “It was nice to see it bounce and kind of spin back into the hole. Maybe because I needed it after the start I had.”

Playing his first tournament since his April 9 win at the Masters, Garcia was 4-over par through six holes. The 17th-hole ace helped him post a 1-over 73 — six strokes behind leaders William McGirt and MacKenzie Hughes.

Spieth needs phone

Cell phones on the golf course are no longer a no-no.

World No. 5 Jordan Spieth took advantage, but later wondered if he should have pocketed his device.

Spieth arrived to his ball on the par-4 first hole to find it in a bunker with a terrible lie. He blamed an earlier group for a poor job raking the bunker.

Prior to hitting the shot, Spieth whipped out his phone and snapped a photo of the lie, planning to show a rules official following the round.

“I overreacted probably a bit, but all in all, you just don’t see that very often,” Spieth said. “Guys are very good 99.9 percent of the time and that was very frustrating. I knew where I was, from a normal lie, it wasn’t too bad; and from that lie I had no chance.

“It was a frustrating time in the round there where I was trying to kind of get some momentum going.”

With his mind racing, one of the world’s premier bunker players blasted out to 45 feet. He then three-putted for a double bogey on his way to a 1-over 73.

Spieth now will need a strong second round to avoid missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass for the third consecutive year.