The weather gods threw a mishmash of different conditions at those players with eyes on the grand prize at The Players on Thursday, not exactly the kind of environment those with dodgy backs are inclined to put down on their wish lists.
“It was a mixed bag of everything, it felt like four different seasons,” claimed Maverick McNealy who was seemingly immune to those changing conditions in opening his quest for the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament at TPC Sawgrass with a five-under-par 67 to claim the clubhouse lead.
Certainly, McNealy, for the most part played, as if not having a care in the world, which was in contrast to world number four Collin Morikawa who became the latest player to fall victim to the curse of a back muscle injury. Morikawa’s injury came on just his second hole, the 11th tee, where a practice swing resulted in a painful exit.
“Before I even took my practice swing, it’s like you had, like a weird, deja vu thing. I took the practice swing and immediately knew, I just couldn’t get through impact. So at that point I called over my trainer, and talked about it with my caddie and it just sucks. I don’t know how to put it in words,” said Morikawa of his short-lived tournament.
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At least Rory McIlroy, who’d suffered a back injury in warming up ahead of the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational last Saturday which caused him to withdraw, managed to arrive fit enough to defend his title after receiving intensive physio on his lower back for the best part of a week.
McIlroy, though, was clearly not swinging at 100 per cent force but stayed patient to make the turn in one over par – one birdie, two bogeys – to ease his way into the tournament on an opening day that brought a squall which forced a short suspension in play.
Séamus Power, however, suffered an up-and-down round – four birdies, four bogeys and a costly finishing double-bogey – to sign for a two-over 74 that has left the Waterford man needing improvement to survive the midway cut.
Power earned his place in the field as second reserve after the number of players was increased from 120 to 123 due to Brooks Koepka’s inclusion under the PGA Tour’s Returning Player Program and, one-under through 12 holes, looked set to make the most of that call-up.
However, a costly finish – bogeying the seventh, his 16th, and then a double-bogey seven on the par-5 ninth – had Power slipping back to cutline territory.
Shane Lowry was one under on his round through the turn.
Of the first wave of players, McNealy – whose only career win came in the 2024 RSM Classic – posted the low round of 65, featuring six birdies and a lone bogey, to claim a one-stroke lead over Justin Thomas (rebounding brilliantly from his nightmare return to the tour following surgery at Bay Hill last week where he shot back-to-back 79s to miss the cut) and Russell Henley.
McNealy has ditched experimenting with a mallet putter to revert back to the Odyssey Toulon blade he used in his win at Sea Island: “I think today I just mastered the variability of what the golf course threw at us really well.”
Thomas, meanwhile, was more like his old self. Having undergone back surgery after last year’s Ryder Cup, he returned to action at Bay Hill where he propped up the field after two rounds to miss the cut.
And, of his massive improvement, Thomas said: “Just feels great to get off to a great start at a big tournament, a tournament that I love. I always enjoy playing this place. I just feel like it’s just a fun course to play.
“I feel like you can, given the different wind conditions or whatever, you have a lot of variety of shots and things that Sawgrass kind of asks of you. I can’t necessarily say I’ve been playing well because last week was my first tournament in six months, but I felt I was more than capable of doing that. But just was able to knock a lot of rust off last week, and obviously felt a lot more comfortable today.”
World number one Scottie Scheffler has struggled with his opening rounds this season so far but was steadier this time, birdieing his closing hole for a level-par 72.
