The Players Day 1 scores, takeaways: Former U.S. Open winner tied for the lead

Day One at The Players produced plenty of action. Here are the biggest takeaways from the opening round.

As expected, the first round of The Players Championship produced thrilling drama. From hole-outs, to blow ups, to countless balls in the water, Thursday at TPC Sawgrass did not disappoint.

Here is everything you need to know through 18 holes.

Round 1 Scores:

T1. Lucas Glover -6 — 66

T1. J.J. Spaun -6 — 66

T1. Camilo Villegas -6 — 66

T4. Min Woo Lee -5 — 67

T4. Billy Horschel -5 — 67

T4. Rory McIlroy -5 — 67

T4. Akshay Bhatia -5 — 67

T4. Max McGreevy -5 — 15

T9. Chandler Phillips -4 — 68

T9. Alex Smalley -4 — 68

T9. Stephan Jaeger -4 — 68

T9. Aaron Rai -4 — 68

T9. Bud Cauley -4 —68

T9. Emiliano Grillo -4 — 68

T9. Adam Hadwin -4 — 16

T18. Scottie Scheffler -3 — 69

T18. 12 others -3 — 69

Takeaways:

Lucas Glover closes with hot finish

Lucas Glover arrived on the par-4 15th hole sitting at 2-under par. Four holes later, he walked off the golf course sitting atop the leaderboard, as the 2009 U.S. Open champion made four straight birdies to end his day.

Glover on his closing stretch:

“On 15, I had a great number, so that was a green light. 16, if you hit it in the fairway you feel like you should make a four. I drew a good lie in the left rough. On 17, I happened to know a putt from years past hitting it there and over-reading it. Then 18, wind switched; I had help all of a sudden. It was an 8-iron number and ended up hitting a 9-iron. Then gravity kind of took over for me and pulled it down there to the left, which it does to that hole location if you just get the right number.”

The 45-year-old hit 11-of-14 fairways on Thursday, something you must do to have success at TPC Sawgrass. He then hit 13-of-18 greens and ranked 10th in strokes gained putting. That’s how you get the job done on the Stadium Course.

Glover’s last top-10 at The Players came in 2017, when he tied for sixth. He’s hoping to do much better than that this week.

Jordan Spieth’s crazy front nine

Jordan Spieth put together an incredible scorecard on his opening nine holes, which included hole-out eagles on both the par-5 11th and par-5 16th. But it was not all roses. He made a double-bogey six after finding the water off the tee at the par-4 14th. He also three-putted the 17th, dropping a shot on the famous island green. It all added up to a 2-under 34, and Spieth ultimately signed for a 2-under 70 — a solid score for any opening round at TPC Sawgrass.

Better yet, Spieth, who did not play from late August to early February due to a wrist injury, said he feels good about his health now that he has played in four events already this season.

“I’m very excited about that, so that allows me to feel like I can go out right now and push it a bit, when I couldn’t the first few weeks, first few events of the season,” Spieth said.

“I had to kind of rebuild stuff from a few months of nothing, and it wasn’t like I was coming back to something that was already great right before. I was in some really bad habits for a year and a half.”

Spieth has not won a tournament since the 2022 RBC Heritage, but it looks like the three-time major winner is trending in the right direction. Let’s see if he can keep it up this weekend.

Rory McIlroy slaps together solid round

Rory McIlroy hit only 4-of-14 fairways, with many of his drives missing to the right. Usually his strong suit, the Northern Irishman also had struggles off the tee last week at Bay Hill. He only hit 42-percent of his fairways at the API, ranking 50th in the field in that metric. More of the same followed on Thursday, as McIlroy ranked 65th in strokes gained off the tee.

“I certainly didn’t drive it the way I wanted to. Didn’t hit it in as many fairways as I would have liked. Yeah, I think with the greens being so receptive, you can get away with it a little bit. I’m not going to be able to get away with it for the rest of the week. Sort of rode my luck out there a little bit,” McIlroy explained.

“But I’m trying to hit this cut shot into play. Missing right off the tee here on any hole is way better than missing left. Just sort of hitting this cut sort of up into the wind, and obviously you don’t need to hit it too.”

Yet, his recovery shots were sensational, especially his punch out from the pine straw on the 18th. McIlroy hit a low screamer, which carried on to the front portion of the green. His ball settled in a position that anyone from the fairway would take, roughly seven feet below the hole. He then knocked it in for a birdie and now sits one stroke behind the lead.

Scottie Scheffler lurking after “okay round”

Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler made four birdies and one bogey on the par-4 10th hole en route to a 3-under 69.

“I feel okay about the round,” Scheffler assessed.

“I think the golf course is playing nice. There’s punishment out there with the heavy rough, and obviously a lot of hazards. A bit of a breeze this afternoon. Overall felt like I did some decent things out there and gave myself some chances.”

He did miss some golden opportunities down the stretch, such as birdie chances on the 15th, 17th, and 18th holes. Once again, Scheffler lost strokes to the field with his putter. He will need his flat stick to heat up a little this weekend if he hopes to secure a third straight Players Championship.

Justin Lower makes the most incredible par you will ever see

Justin Lower made one heck of a three on the par-3 17th hole.

After finding the water off the tee, Lower went to the drop zone and proceeded to hole out for a three. There are no pictures on a scorecard, but Lower will remember that par save forever.

Max Homa, Viktor Hovland continue to struggle

Both Max Homa and Viktor Hovland look completely lost.

Homa, who has seen his Official World Golf Ranking plummet over the past 12 months, shot a 7-over 79 on Thursday. He lost almost four strokes on approach, hitting only five greens in regulation. His first nine holes could be described as a nightmare, as Homa went out with a 6-over 42, which included double bogies on the par-4 4th and par-5 9th holes. He also dropped shots at the par-5 2nd and the par-4 5th — making bogies on the par-5s at TPC Sawgrass is never a recipe for success.

Hovland, meanwhile, is the only player in the field who failed to break 80.

The enduring image of his opening round came on the 15th hole, where Hovland airmailed his drive into the trees. He then got down on his stomach to grab his golf ball, with the upper half of his body entrenched in the foliage.

Hovland went on to make a double-bogey on the 15th. He then bounced back with a birdie at the benign 16th, but that proved to be his last par-breaker of the day.

The Norwegian’s round turned for the worse on his final nine — the front side at TPC Sawgrass — as he made a triple bogey seven on the 5th and a double bogey six on the 6th. Like that, Hovland sunk to the bottom of the leaderboard and will need a Herculean effort on Friday to make the cut.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.