Players Championship 2012 Leaderboard: Early Surprise Contenders at Sawgrass
While everybody sits in shock over the poor performance of Tiger Woods, there were multiple standout performances to be impressed with at Round 1 of the Players Championship at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
Sure Woods shot a two-over 74 to finish tied for 108th, but what about co-leaders Martin Laird and Ian Poulter?
Both registered seven-under 65’s and set the pace for a day in which 54 players shot under par.
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Laird was incredibly consistent, avoiding a single bogey through 18 holes. This is a very surprising development considering his best finish in the previous nine tournaments was a tie for 24th at the WGC-Cadillac, an event lacking much star power.
With three birdies from 10 feet and beyond, this was the best performance from Laird in a very long time.
Can he keep up this incredible pace?
Poulter vaulted up the leaderboard after registering a string of five birdies on the back nine. He set himself up beautifully by capitalizing on eight of his 14 greens.
He seems to be in a groove right now and has to be considered the favorite to win the event after Round 1. Poulter has finished inside the top 15 in three of the last four events he’s played in and was the runner-up at TPC Sawgrass in 2009.
If I had to take a guess on who will win this event, Poulter is the pick.
But don’t forget about Blake Adams (-6), Kevin Na (-5) and Ben Crane (-5).
All three had memorable moments of their own. Adams had an incredible run where he birdied five straight holes. Na registered a ridiculous six birdies on the back nine while Crane only suffered one bogey on the day.
Big names like Phil Mickelson (-1) and Rory McIlroy (E) are already in a deep hole, and Woods (+2) would love to step up into that said hole.
It looks like a lesser known golfer is on track to take home the title at Sawgrass in 2012, and it should be a weekend full of surprises and tons of lead changes to get there.
| T1 | 1 | Martin Laird | -7 | -7 | F | 65 | - | - | - | 65 | |
| T1 | 1 | Ian Poulter | -7 | -7 | F | 65 | - | - | - | 65 | |
| 3 | 1 | Blake Adams | -6 | -6 | F | 66 | - | - | - | 66 | |
| T4 | 1 | Kevin Na | -5 | -5 | F | 67 | - | - | - | 67 | |
| T4 | 1 | Ben Crane | -5 | -5 | F | 67 | - | - | - | 67 | |
| T6 | 1 | Kevin Stadler | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Jhonattan Vegas | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Jonathan Byrd | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Adam Scott | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Ben Curtis | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Bill Haas | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Brian Davis | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Sang-Moon Bae | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Michael Thompson | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Harrison Frazar | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T6 | 1 | Matt Kuchar | -4 | -4 | F | 68 | - | - | - | 68 | |
| T17 | 1 | Brendon de Jonge | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | Johnson Wagner | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | Ryan Moore | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | J.J. Killeen | -3 | -3 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| T17 | 1 | Kris Blanks | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | Pat Perez | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | Padraig Harrington | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | Arjun Atwal | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | David Toms | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | Sean O'Hair | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 | |
| T17 | 1 | David Hearn | -3 | -3 | F | 69 | - | - | - | 69 |
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