McGirt, Hughes tied for Players lead
Top pair one shot ahead of chasing quartet, Garcia lights up Sawgrass with hole-in-one on 17
>> PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes and William McGirt of the US fired identical five-underpar 67s to share the lead after the first round of The Players Championship on Thursday.
Alex Noren, of Sweden, Spain’s Jon Rahm, JB Holmes and Chez Reavie shot 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 Hamilton, Ontario. “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.
Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and this year’s Masters champion Sergio 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.
“The feeling was great,” Garcia said. “I think I wasn’t quite in the tournament because of everything that’s been going on after the Masters win and media and people congratulating you left, right and centre.
“I felt like I was a little bit up in the clouds, and when I woke up, I was four over after six.”
McGirt had three birdies on the front nine and eagled both of the par-fives on the back nine to offset two bogeys. Last year’s Memorial Tournament winner McGirt is just the 26th player to record two eagles in one round during The Players Championship.
This is the fifth time McGirt has held the lead or a share of the lead after 18 holes, but he has yet to convert an opening round lead into a victory.
Hughes had a solid round of five birdies and no bogeys. He is also a one-time winner, capturing the 2017 RSM Classic in October.
‘PRO’ GOLFER SHOOTS 127
An American professional golfer, who was trying to qualify for the 117th US Open, stumbled his way to a 55-over 127 at a tournament in Alabama on Wednesday.
Clifton McDonald shot a 68 on the front nine and finished with a 127 at the Robert Trent Jones course.
McDonald’s scorecard was posted on Twitter by a fellow competitor Lee McCoy, who ended his tweet with the hashtag #NeverGiveUp.
Beginning on t he 10th hole, McDonald recorded a 14 on the parfive 16th and an 11 on the par-four 18th to make the halfway turn in 32-over 68.
His second nine was an improvement with a 23-over 59
US Open local qualifying continues until next Thursday. More than 9,000 golfers will attempt to play their way into the event in June. AFP
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
(USA unless noted, par-72)
67 — William McGirt, Mackenzie Hughes (CAN)
68 — JB Holmes, Alex Noren (SWE), Chez Reavie, John Rahm (ESP)
69 — Daniel Summerhays, Francesco Molinari (ITA), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Kyle Stanley, Patrick Cantlay, David Lingmerth (SWE), Brendan Steele, Cody Gribble, Kim Si-Woo (KOR), Daniel Berger, Rafa Cabrera-Bello (ESP)