– The THE PLAYERS Championship is underway and the first part has been completed. The first round of the opening day has ended. Good weather. Sunshine. Pleasant temperature. And a breeze that is noticeable, though not excessively bothersome. Probably the easiest conditions we will experience all week, as long as the forecasts predicting increasing winds until Sunday hold true. The greens are still receptive, although the rough, indeed, is quite punishing.
– We start by turning the leaderboard upside down. A walk through the infernos. The world turned upside down. Many things catch the eye. For example, the round of Viktor Hovland (+8), Max Homa (+7), or Thomas Detry (+7), Matthew Fitzpatrick (+6), Justin Thomas (+6), Sungjae Im (+5) or Tony Finau (+4). We insist, these should be the best conditions of the week, and the setbacks for top players have been significant.
– What’s happening with Hovland and Homa? Let’s look at the numbers. The Norwegian continues to play very little, similar to last year, but the results are catastrophic. He has played 13 rounds in 2025, eleven on the PGA Tour and two on the DP World Tour in Dubai. Only the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am stands out, where he himself admitted it was an illusion because he made putts from everywhere. He shot 65. The average in the other twelve rounds is 72.25. Last year, with a very lacklustre performance, it was 70.04. In 2023, when he won the FedEx Cup, he was one of the six who averaged below 69 strokes on the PGA Tour. Where are those four strokes coming from? Hovland continues to search for answers, but so far, he hasn’t found them.
– Homa’s situation is much the same… worse. He has played five tournaments this year, withdrew from one, and missed the cut in two others. He only played all four days at the Sentry and Pebble Beach… where there was no cut. He has played 14 rounds in 2025, and his average is 71.92. If we exclude the Sentry, where low rounds are common and he finished 26th, his average rises to 73.4. Hard to believe. Interestingly, both were among the standouts at the Ryder Cup in Italy. Since then, they’ve been in free fall. Neither played last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, a truly strange decision. The only explanation can be that they didn’t feel prepared for a test like Bay Hill and decided to dedicate that week to training with Sawgrass in mind. So far, it doesn’t seem like there have been any positive developments.
– A strange case also for Sungjae Im. He started the year third at the Sentry, making a statement, and from there, apart from a fourth place at the Farmers, which is not insignificant, three missed cuts. He had passed the last ten of 2024, with five top 10s and eight top 15s. What a strange year. Fitzpatrick’s situation goes back further. Since last year’s THE PLAYERS, when he finished fifth, he has only achieved one top 10. Another mystery. For Justin Thomas, we can say it was an accident, a bad day, as he had been playing better lately, and today he was disastrous from tee to green, while the poor round from the recent PGA Tour winner Detry or Finau, who had shown promise at the Genesis with a good fifth place, appeared at some point at Bay Hill, although the Genesis was his first top 10 since last year’s Open Championship. All strange.
– The first leader is the indomitable Lucas Glover (-6), a 45-year-old player who thrives on difficult courses. Two strokes behind are Aaron Rai (-4), who has done well at Sawgrass in the past and finished well at Bay Hill, Alex Smalley (-4), Bud Cauley (-4), who entered at the last minute, and Stephan Jaeger (-4). Strange leaderboard. Also in position are Joe Highsmith (-3), who won the Cognizant, Robert MacIntyre (-3), Isaiah Salinda (-3), and Alejandro Tosti (-3), who seems to have benefited greatly from his hole-in-one on the 17th yesterday during the practice round.
– Special mention to the round of Jordan Spieth (-2). A true tribute to the club of Spithosos. He shot two under on the first nine holes with two bogeys and a double bogey. Additionally, of course, he made two eagles and two birdies. Jordan’s festival. Afterwards, he calmed down with a birdie and a bogey on the back nine. Good start. Just like Sepp Straka (-2), a golfer who seems destined to win someday on this Stadium course at Sawgrass.
