Unknowns take early control of start-studded field at the Players

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Players Championship leaderboard, through Thursday’s opening round at TPC Sawgrass, is adorned with more little-known players than the game’s biggest stars.

Chad Ramey, a 30-year-old from Mississippi playing in his first Players Championship is leading the way at 8-under after shooting a bogey-free 64. He leads two-time major winner Collin Morikawa by a shot, and Taylor Pendrith and Ben

Griffin by three.

“There’s always nerves, but … it kind of means you care,’’ Ramey said. “You’ve just got to deal with them. That’s kind of why we play the game. It’s why we’re here is to have those nerves. Just kind of push past them, push them aside, and just do what you’ve got to do.’’

Ramey, who said he saw the golf course for the first time Monday, had his first child last week, a son named Nolan, and wondered aloud if that might have calmed him on Thursday.

“Obviously, golf is a lot less important now,’’ he said. “Maybe that’s why I played better today. It’s a lot less important now that I have a child, and hate I’m not there with him, but just glad to be here and to at least play well.’’

Morikawa played well after an uncharacteristically poor go last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“Last week was a weird one,’’ Morikawa said. “Just had a two-way miss. It’s tough. The swing’s feeling good and I put in a lot of work this weekend and Monday through Wednesday to make sure I had that cut.’’

Morikawa had a chance to tie the lead on his final hole, the par-5 ninth, and just missed the birdie putt.

“There’s no sour taste,’’ he said. “Sometimes they drop and sometimes they don’t — especially when rounds are going like that. Overall, the game feels really good, and I’m going to take that into the next few days and use that momentum.’’

First-round play was suspended at 6:28 p.m. due to darkness with 21 players having not completed their rounds. They’ll resume at 7:40 a.m. Friday. The player closest to the lead still on the course was Justin Suh, who was 5-under par through 15 holes.

The power grouping of world No. 1 Jon Rahm, No. 2 Scottie Schaffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy had mixed results. Scheffler, whose best finish at TPC is a tie for 22nd, shot a 4-under 68, Rahm shot 71 and McIlroy struggled to a 4-over 76.

“This is one of those places when

you’re hitting the ball really well and getting the ball in position, there’s a lot of birdies to be had, but as you start to miss fairways and get out of position, it can go the opposite way very quickly,’’ Scheffler said. “I don’t anticipate someone shooting 8-under every day and finishing at 32 [under] this week. I think the scores are kind of going to ebb and flow, and we’ll see what happens. But definitely happy with how I played today.’’

Backing Scheffler’s point, Pendrith hit all 14 fairways, so it was no accident he posted 67.

“You’ve got to drive it well here,’’ the Canadian said. “It’s really tricky; the rough is thick. If you’re playing from the rough all day, it’s difficult to get close to the hole locations. The greens are super firm. Playing from the fairway is definitely huge. I love it. It suits my eye really well, and there’s a lot of drivers, and when I’m driving it great, it’s fun.’’

Griffin’s round was not only one of the best of the day, it came in the afternoon in more difficult conditions.