Players Championship 2023: 3 Instant Reactions to Thursday Leaderboard Scores
Play was suspended during Thursday's first round at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, though most players either finished or made it through at least 14 holes.
So while the round wasn't completed, there were still plenty of takeaways to be had from the early stages of the tournament.
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Jon Rahm and Max Homa Have Their Work Cut Out for Them
Two of the favorites heading into the tournament find themselves staring down a major early deficit behind the tournament's leader, Chad Ramey, who shot an eight-under 64 to pace the field.
Rahm is currently seven strokes back, while Homa finds himself eight strokes behind Ramey. Both completed their rounds.
"The only thing I could say is that I hit a lot of quality putts out there," a disappointed Rahm told reporters after his round. "The only thing I will be thinking on today is a couple wedge shots, about three or four of them out there, that not only didn't I hit them close, some of them I missed the green completely. ... That's where I think the difference on the round was today compared to other scores out there."
It isn't the sort of start he or Homa would have wanted, though both are certainly capable of turning things around with three rounds to go. But each find themselves in a major, and disappointing, hole they'll need to crawl free from over the weekend.
Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler Should Be Considered the Early Favorites
Yes, Ramey holds the lead, but the talented Morikawa is just one stroke back and was among the favorites coming into Thursday.
"The game feels really good, and I'm just going to take that into the next few days and just kind of use that momentum to hopefully play three more really good rounds," Morikawa told reporters after his round.
Scheffler, meanwhile, is just four strokes back and was arguably the safest bet to win outside of Rahm coming in, so he's sitting relatively pretty as well.
With many of the other favorites scuffling a bit more on Thursday (more on that below), Morikawa and Scheffler look like the top contenders to watch after the first round.
Rory McIlroy Is Toast
Without question, the biggest disappointment on Thursday was McIlroy, who limped to a four-over 76 and finds himself 12 strokes off the pace.
Is that insurmountable? No, not definitively, but it's hard to imagine McIlroy essentially playing three perfect rounds of golf and rocketing back up the leaderboard.
If there was a player who might be able to pull off the feat, it's McIlroy, but more than likely he's just battling to make the cut and earn himself a bigger piece of the purse at this point.
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