MCGIRT KEEPS RAISING GAME
Players co-leader no longer toiling in golf ’s outposts
Former journeyman golfer William McGirt played so many different mini-tours over the years he lost count.
“I played in several minitour events that are one-day events or something where you honestly didn’t know if you were playing a golf tourna- ment,” he said. “I mean I’ve seen herds of cows right beside the golf course, sheep, you name it. A few goats. It was fun times.
“I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences.”
How times — and the stage — have changed.
Perseverance and more than 200,000 miles driven in his 2000 Honda Passport paved the way to the PGA Tour, where he never lost hope during a winless stretch that finally ended in his 165th start on the Tour, in front of Jack Nicklaus in last year’s Memorial, no less .
McGirt, 37, has been in the mix in the last two major championships and finished in a tie for third in the RBC Heritage the week after the Masters and tied for ninth in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play the week before the Masters.
Now he’s tied for the lead in The Players Championship.
Steve DiMeglio @Steve_DiMeglio USA TODAY Sports
With two eagles on the back nine, McGirt shot 5-under-par 67 Thursday at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and shares the top spot with Mackenzie Hughes, who was one of four players to go bogey-free.
“It was a matter of having a good day,” said McGirt, who is ranked No. 46 in the world. “I don’t know that you can really learn this golf course, because the thing with this place is you hit one that lands 4, 5 feet off the putting surface, there’s no telling what’s going to happen to it.”
A lot happened under sundrenched skies and in the heat of 93 degrees on a course where trouble lurks on every hole. And with a forecast calling for more heat — a high of 95 is expected Friday — the course will get firmer and faster.
Hughes, who won his first Tour title last year in the RSM Classic, has missed the cut in three of his last five tournaments and didn’t expect to shoot 67.
“It wasn’t perfect golf, but I managed it well and made a few nice saves when I needed to and made a few nice putts, so it was a good day,” Hughes said.
Four players finished with 68, including rising star Jon Rahm, who didn’t make a bogey, and Alex Noren, who also was bogey-free.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson got off to a slow start and finished with a 71, No. 2 Rory McIlroy battled a sore back and shot 73 and No. 3 Jason Day shot 70 despite three bogeys in his last four holes.
“My day is kind of summed up on the first hole, when I onehopped it into the flag and it came off the green and I made bogey,” Johnson said. “I hit two perfect shots, and I make a 5 on No. 1, then hit two good shots on 2, horseshoed a 4-footer. That’s just kind of how my day went. I could never really get any momentum.”
Adam Scott, who won the 2004 Players, held the lead before he lost all of his momentum with double bogeys on his last two holes and shot 70.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia had little momentum in the afterglow of his victory at Augusta National Golf Club until he made a hole in one on the famous 17th.
“It was a great yardage, 123 yards, and I hit a solid 52-degree wedge. It was nice to see the ball bounce and then spin back into the hole,” said Garcia, who has 12 aces. “I sort of needed it after the poor start I had.”
McGirt started his round nicely with three birdies on the front nine. His eagles on 11 and 16 were sandwiched with bogeys at 10 and 18.
“It’s amazing what a little bit of confidence will do,” McGirt said. “The win last year was huge for my confidence, and then playing well at the PGA (Championship) last fall (he tied for 10th), kind of proved to myself that, ‘ Hey, I can play golf at the major championship level.’ And then obviously playing well for the first two and a half days at Augusta.
“So more than anything, it’s more of a confidence thing that you take away from it.”
While he’s more than com- fortable now on the game’s biggest stages, McGirt has to grow accustomed to being recognized a tad more.
“I can’t hide anymore. I’ve gone through the airport a few times and tried to dress down as much as I could and hide. It doesn’t work,” he said. “It is nice to be noticed. I mean, obviously if you’re walking around and you’re able to go unnoticed, that means people either have never heard of you or don’t care. So I would like to think that people actually do care and they have noticed. “I don’t mind.” Beats playing in front of cows.