The Players Championship: Lucas Glover, Camilo Villegas lead field; Rory McIlroy one stroke back
The Players Championship turned back the clock to the late 2000s on Thursday, with 2009 U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover and 2008 Tour Championship winner Camilo Villegas leading the field at Sawgrass at -6, along with J.J. Spaun. Rory McIlroy, along with TGL stalwarts Min Woo Lee and Billy Horschel, stood one stroke back at -5, followed by an entire cavalcade of players at -4.
Glover paced the field with an up-and-down round that ended spectacularly — four straight birdies on the final four holes — and he gets a good rest until his afternoon Friday tee time. "I deep down believe I can still compete out here at 45," he said after his round, "and I don't want to stop anytime soon."
At the other end of the leaderboard, some impressive names turned in some less-than-impressive scores. Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas finished the day at +6, Max Homa at +7 and Viktor Hovland at an ugly +8, a full 80 strokes on the day. Most, understandably, declined to comment on their rounds after they wrapped.
"The thing about this place is, there's always some really good scores and always some really bad scores," Glover said. "It's razor thin. The margins are razor thin here, akin to say Augusta or Bay Hill. You get off just a little, you can make big numbers in a hurry."
Plenty of unhappy players could attest to that Thursday. Sawgrass' famed Island Green claimed its share of victims, like Max Greyserman, who quadruple-bogeyed the hole:
From T55 to T121 in one hole.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2025
Max Greyserman makes a quadruple bogey 7 on No. 17. pic.twitter.com/zYvaurLM7Q
But perhaps no one exemplified the up-and-down nature of The Players quite like Justin Thomas, who plummeted from an early tie for the lead all the way down to the bottom reaches of the leaderboard after going double-triple on 17 and 18:
T1 ➡️ T56 in a three-hole span.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2025
Volatility early at TPC Sawgrass. pic.twitter.com/gcHwkewOF8
On the other end of the "anything can happen" spectrum, consider Chandler Philips, who carded three eagles on the day en route to playing the four par 5s at a total of -7. He finished the day at -4, capping off a round that marked the first time a player had three eagles at the Players since 1983.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler kept himself in the mix with a four-birdie, one-bogey round of -3 that left him three strokes back of the leaders. Scheffler, McIlroy and Xander Schauffele (E) will tee off at 8:24 ET on Friday morning.
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Camilo Villegas among trio of co-leaders with Rory McIlroy one back at The Players
Villegas, J.J. Spaun and Lucas Glover all shot 6-under 66 to share the Day 1 lead at The Players Championship.Yahoo Sports - 9h -
Villegas, Spaun and Glover share Players lead, McIlroy one back
Colombia's Camilo Villegas and Americans Lucas Glover and J.J. Spaun each fired six-under-par 66s to share the lead on Thursday at the darkness-halted opening round of the PGA Players ...Yahoo Sports - 10h -
Glover shares Sawgrass lead with McIlroy one shot back
Former US Open champion Lucas Glover is one of three players with a share of the lead after the opening round of The Players Championship in Florida.Yahoo Sports - 10h -
Lucas Glover makes all the 'nervy and gross' putts Thursday to co-lead Players Championship
The key was on the greens where he picked up more than 2 ½ shots on the field in strokes gained: putting and rolled in 120 feet of putts.Yahoo Sports - 12h -
Gators growling at The Players Championship as Billy Horschel, Camilo Villegas contend
Former Florida Gator golfers Billy Horschel and Camilo Villegas has strong finishes to their afternoon rounds and are in the thick of contention.Yahoo Sports - 10h -
Rory McIlroy answers the call after a spot of mobile phone interference
Northern Irishman round in 67 after clash with spectator Glover, Spaun and Villegas lead the way at Sawgrass Rory McIlroy opted to let his golf clubs do the talking. A wondrous approach to the ...The Guardian - 10h -
Rory McIlroy mum on video of him taking phone from University of Texas player heckling him
Rory McIlroy shot a 67 at The Players ChampionshipABC News - 10h -
Fan who had phone snatched by Rory McIlroy is top US amateur golfer
If Rory McIlroy treats his rivals with the same contempt he dished out to one of America’s top college golfers who crassly heckled him at The Players Championship, then there will be only one ...Yahoo Sports - 11h -
Fan who heckled Rory McIlroy at Players Championship after errant shot apologizes
A college golfer who drew Rory McIlroy's attention with an ill-timed comment is attempting to mend fences.Yahoo Sports - 7h
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