Players Championship 2016 Leaderboard: Live Scores and Standings from Thursday
The Players Championship at Florida’s TPC Sawgrass technically isn’t a major, but it may as well be.
This year’s edition features a loaded field, $10 million in prize money and a daunting closing stretch that includes the island green on No. 17, which could determine the Sunday winner in a crowded competition. Erik Matuszewski of Forbes confirmed the prize money total and noted that each of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will take the course Thursday.
It may be only the first round, but it is important to get off to a favorable start. With so many top-notch golfers in the field, it will be all the more difficult to overcome an early deficit during the weekend rounds. Below is a list of the golfers to watch in the first round who will find their names near the top of the leaderboard at the start of the day on Friday.
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With that in mind, check back here throughout the first round for live score and standing updates below:
Players to Watch
Jordan Spieth
It’s not often that a second-place finish at the Masters is considered a failure, but Jordan Spieth lost a five-shot lead with nine holes remaining at Augusta National as Danny Willett captured the green jacket.
Thursday marks Spieth’s first action since his Masters collapse, which means there will be plenty of eyes on him in anticipation of how he reacts. After all, his quadruple bogey on the par-three No. 12 at Augusta that featured inexplicable water shots was the key to his meltdown, and the island green on the par-three No. 17 at Sawgrass has water that is very much in play.
Whether Spieth is able to mentally block out his Masters performance on that hole will be critical, especially if he is among the leaders vying for the title in the later rounds.
Jonathan Coachman of ESPN.com believes Spieth will be locked in at The Players Championship:
"This is how much I believe in Spieth. He took a month off and will be ready to go. I believe in greatness. And greatness, at times, needs to step up and show the world just how great it can be. Jordan will be more motivated this week than he was for the British Open last year. He will have his head down and will be laser focused like never before.
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Many may remember Spieth’s collapse, but he still finished in second place at the Masters and was dominant throughout the majority of the tournament. His PGA Tour profile lists eight top-25 finishes in nine events played this season, which is the consistency he needs to eclipse a loaded TPC field.
The former Texas Longhorn doesn’t have to win the tournament on Thursday, but he can put himself in a favorable position with a solid round. As long as he is impressive on the greens and continues his consistent play, he should be among the top few on the leaderboard.
His putting will be key, as Jeff Bergerson of ESPN.com said “the greens will be fast” at Sawgrass, but that plays right into Spieth’s hands. He is tops on tour with a putting average of 1.672 and will use his dominance on the greens to finish Thursday’s round inside the top 10.
Jason Day
Jason Day has been nearly unstoppable recently and will continue his formidable run at The Players Championship.
Steve DiMeglio of USA Today said Day has captured the title in six of his last 16 starts during a stretch that includes his first major victory at the PGA Championship. Day is also the top-ranked player on tour, although DiMeglio pointed out he hasn’t experienced much success at TPC Sawgrass with three missed cuts, a 19th-place outing and a tie for sixth in five starts.
However, Day was already making adjustments before the 2016 tournament even started, per DiMeglio:
"It's a difficult golf course in regards that, for me, not so much trying to hit the driver off the tee, but there's a few 3-woods out there for me that I have to hit, and if there's one club in the bag that's uncomfortable for me at times, it's the 3-wood. That's why I might be hitting a few more 2-irons off the tee this week, just to try and get it in play, so that I can hit the fairways and try and get it on the green and give myself an opportunity at birdie.
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If Day follows his own script and does give himself birdie opportunities, he will gradually climb the leaderboard. He is sixth on tour with a birdie average of 4.34 and second in strokes gained from putting at .931. Capitalizing on his putting and birdie opportunities seems to be his approach for this year’s tournament, and he will do just that.
Day is red-hot and appears primed to play to his strengths on Thursday and beyond. Look for him to be near the top of the leaderboard at the end of the first round.
Rickie Fowler should have plenty of confidence at The Players Championship since he won the event last year and tied for second place in 2012. He also understands what it takes to come through in the critical moments at Sawgrass.
He shot a 67 last year during the final round and dazzled with a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie finish to set up a playoff, which he eventually won. It was the perfect example of a talented golfer playing up to his potential at the most opportune time, and he will look to carry over that momentum on the golf course into his first round Thursday.
While Fowler doesn’t have history on his side—Matuszewski noted there has never been a back-to-back champion in the 42-year history of The Players Championship—he is primed to surge to the top 10 of the leaderboard Thursday.
He will maintain consistency throughout the round considering he is fifth on tour with a 71.23 greens-in-regulation percentage. As long as he preserves that level of solid play and connects on a few timely birdies when he is on those greens, he will be right there as the weekend approaches.
That is when the confidence and winning experience will kick in with the trophy on the line.
Stats courtesy of the PGA Tour.
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