Players Championship 2015 Leaderboard: Live Updates, Top Storylines for Friday
The Players Championship got off to another brilliant, competitive start on Thursday, with four players sharing the lead at five under after the first round and several top pros lying in wait.
Rory McIlroy continued his strong play with a first-round 71, while Rickie Fowler shot a 69 and provided perhaps the best quote of the first day in referencing an anonymous Sports Illustrated poll—via Golf.com's Coleman McDowell—that had his fellow PGA Tour players name him the most overrated player on the tour (tied with Ian Poulter, it should be noted).
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Here were his thoughts on the report, per GolfChannel.com's Will Gray:
Fowler's mostly content to let his game do the talking, but there's little doubt the poll caught his attention. His play is definitely one of the major talking points Friday, but that's not all there is to watch for at the TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Here's a look at the live leaderboard, followed by some of the top storylines heading into and emerging from Friday's play.
Will Rory McIlroy Take the Lead Heading Into Weekend?
Despite Jordan Spieth's imperious form over the past few months, McIlroy came into The Players Championship with the best Vegas lines—albeit by a very slim margin—per Odds Shark. This was likely owing to his win at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play tournament just prior to golf's unofficial fifth major.
He certainly didn't disappoint on Thursday, finishing with a score of 69, two strokes shy of the quartet of tourney leaders. With Spieth stumbling out of the gate with a Thursday score of 75, McIlroy might get a weekend of golf where he's unencumbered by the thought of fending off his top challenger for the world lead heading into the latter half of the tournament. While a number of fine golfers have already put together incredible starts to their Friday rounds, few players can rack up birdies and sink clutch shots like an in-form McIlroy.
If he gets off to a slow start on Friday, though, don't worry—the back nine at TPC Sawgrass is his specialty.
"There are a lot of chances on that back nine,” McIlroy said, per GolfChannel.com's Randall Mell. “I just feel comfortable on it, feel comfortable on the closing stretch."
Mell noted that McIlroy is 24 under par on the back nine in his last six rounds at this course, but 10 over par on the front nine. If he can limit the damage on the front nine Friday, the rest of The Players Championship hopefuls had better watch out.
Can Tiger Woods Make the Cut?
Tiger Woods—perhaps playing with a heavy heart and foggy mind due to the May anniversary of his father Earl's death and breakup with longtime girlfriend Lindsey Vonn—struggled mightily on Thursday, finishing way back in the pack with a first-round score of 73. It was a round that contained one of his worst-ever shots, at least in the eyes of USA Today's Steve DiMeglio:
"On the 8th tee, with the par-3 playing 210 yards, Woods hit a chunk shank, his ball coming to rest at the bottom of a water hazard 35 yards short and to the right of the green. Since 2003, only 11 others have found that water hazard.
Woods didn't even know the hazard was there.
He took a drop and from an awkward lie managed to chip the ball onto the green, where he two-putted for a double-bogey 5.
"
According to PGATour.com's live leaderboard, the projected cut is even par, meaning Woods will have to pull his considerable game together if he is to survive to the weekend.
He's been slightly better to start on Thursday, per ESPN Stats & Info, but is still close to the danger zone:
Golf Channel pointed out that he has a reputation to uphold here at TPC Sawgrass:
Weekend ratings will no doubt improve overall if Woods is still out on the course, even if he's no longer in contention. Ranked at No. 125 in the world coming into The Players Championship, Woods has a long road back to becoming the dangerous player who won five tournaments as recently as 2013 and was a constant threat at majors and other big tournaments.
Hideki Matsuyama Becoming a Major PGA Tour Force?
At the ripe age of 23, Matsuyama is younger than the oft-discussed McIlroy and Fowler, and just two years older than the prodigious Spieth. He's coming off of a career-best finish in a major—fifth place at the 2015 Masters—and has a staggering seven top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season.
A win at The Players Championship—which would mean fending off the likes of co-Day 1 leaders Hoffman, Hearn and Na, as well as the likes of McIlroy, Fowler and 2014 runner-up Jim Furyk—would easily become the defining moment of his young career.
Furthermore, it could make him impossible to omit from conversations regarding the top young golfers on the PGA Tour, as well as add a welcome international profile to this new wave of talent.
Like Fowler, Matsuyama has just one PGA Tour win in his career. His record isn't nearly as good as the Oklahoma State product's record in majors, nor is he as flashy as some of the other players on the tour. What he does have is undeniable talent, consistency and a chance to make a name for himself. Matsuyama credited his excellent start at TPC Sawgrass to an improved putting game.
"I putted very well today. That was the difference,” Matsuyama said via a translator, per Yahoo Sports' Ryan Ballengee. “Probably starting from last week I started putting a little bit better, and it just carried over into today. I was very happy about that."
If he doesn't win here at The Players Championship, keeping apace with such a talented field could bring him some well-deserved attention at the very least and give golf fans another ascendant star to discuss.
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