Sawgrass Scenes

A reasonably fun first day at The Players.  The course seems softer than is optimal, though that's gonna happen when you venture to Florida, even the northern portion thereof, in May.

Island Blues - No. 17 featured the front hole location, which seemed a conundrum to many... here's Shack's take:

The atmosphere around the TPC Sawgrass's 17th hole was electric Thursday, marking a nice departure from recent years when things have felt flat and lightly attended at golf's ultimate Thunderdome. Thank you Tiger. And the weather Gods, who delivered a crisp, comfortable day to open the 2015 Players. 

Folks were astonished that Brooks Koepka hit two balls in the water at 17 but as the PGA Tour's ShotLink folks noted in their round up, the lake got much more action than normal:

I happened to catch the Retief Goosen and Kevin Streelman group playing the hole, and it was quite curious.  Retief selected a nine-iron, which the commentators thought to be way too much club.  He barely took it back, yet was way long and lucky to stay dry along the walking path.  Streelman pulled the same club but, perhaps influenced by Goosen, left it ten yards short of the green on a hole where short is quite bad...

Shack also provides this chart of balls in the water:

Was there a hurricane during the first round in 2007?  That's a ton of ammo sleeping with the fishes...

The NBC/Golf Channel folks came up with a new (at least to me) feature, using ProTracer from behind the green.  And this video shows every tee shot on the hole from the day (link provide because I'm unsure if video will embed properly):

As noted above, long-hitting Brooks Koepka was the only unfortunate soul to lose two balls into the water....Here's how that looks on ShotLink:

The problem with rinsing your ball here, is that the third from the drop area might be a tougher shot than the first.  Just ask Brooks...

We've seen many of the guys get clever with the art work on their wedges... how about this homage from Robert Streb:

I love it, though even these guys can't get there with their sixties...Shack also links to this delightful blog post by former Tour player Phil Blackmar on the karmic aspects of the hole:

As I aimed at the middle of the green, the golf Gods entered my head and convinced me to aim closer to the hole and picture a flight where the ball landed on the slope just left of the hole ‘which would then spin down with another chance for birdie. Thanks for that one golf Gods. Well, there was no way the golf Gods, Karma, NBC or anyone else for that matter, was going to let a bouncer for a heavy metal group who finished 6-10-8 for a 51 the year before win the “5th major”. So, on cue, the shot found the water to the right and I had to settle for a 3rd place finish. And the golf Gods ROARED in delight, clinking wine glasses in toast of their charades.

In retrospect, it would have been my 3rd win in 7 years with a 10 year exemption on tour, a 5 year exemption into the majors, a few million dollars in endorsements etc. It’s really amazing I don’t hardly remember a thing about the week given the circumstance. For 10 years NBC would lead with infamous shots on the 17th, which of course, included mine. Finally, though, enough time passed that I fell from their masochistic grace and the events have drifted into serene forgetfulness. It’s as if nothing happened, except, when I get in my boat to go fishing, I am reminded I would have a bigger boat.

You're not the only one, Phil, but thanks for sharing...

Results - It seems to be an unusually compressed leaderboard, with 26 players within two shots of the lead.  It's a nice mix of legitimate contenders (McIlroy, Horschel, Matsuyama and Day, just top note a few) and obvious pretenders (Overton and Levin, again, just for discussion purposes).

As for the show ponies, Cameron Morfit had this:

Tiger Woods, making his first start since a 17th place finish at the Masters, and sleep-deprived after his recent breakup with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, hit into the water on 18 and shot 73. Phil Mickelson, also making his first start since the Masters, where he tied for second, also found the water off the tee on 18, also double-bogeyed the hole, and also shot 73. 

“Probably the highest score I could have shot today,” Woods said.

Ummmm...given some of the spots he visited, that seems an especially optimistic take.  In fact, his tee shot on No. 8 was highlight-reel bad, catching a water hazard short-right that I can't ever recall being in play for these guys.

As for the feature group, Adam Schupak had this:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy bombed his drive 60 yards past Jordan

Spieth on the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass. By the end of the first round, the World No. 1 looked miles ahead of the World No. 2 on the leaderboard at The Players Championship. While McIlroy smiled after a 69, Spieth’s thin lips parted in distaste after a 3-over 75. 

“Really tough ball-striking day,” Spieth said Thursday. “Just didn’t quite trust it today until I was already too far behind the 8-ball.” 

This was a chance to see the new world order on display with No. 7-ranked Jason Day, who matched McIlroy’s 69, filling out this must-see threesome. Or as Day, the old guy at 27 put it, “I was third wheel.”

This reminds of the old saw about economists that have correctly predicted five of the last two recessions....  I've been predicting that Jordan would crash and burn from playing too much golf going back to the Masters.  I wasn't wrong, I was just early...

Setting up for a fun week, no?