The pros ride the brutal TPC Sawgrass rollercoaster at The Players Championship
Max Homa’s start to the day at the Players Championship was better than most.
The 35-year-old started 4-10 at TPC Sawgrass. He split the fairway and pulled a gap wedge from 137 to attack the flag. The ball landed to the right of the flag, bounced a few times and then rolled back into the opening eagle hole.
“It was cool,” Homa said after the round. “I thought if I drew my three- or four-gap wedge to the right of it, it wouldn’t take long, and if I hit it right, maybe it would work there. It rarely goes into the hole, but it works out on its own.”
That was the start of a confusing day for Homa at TPC Sawgrass. He followed his eagle with a birdie on the par-5 11th and then made a double bogey on the 12th. A bogey on 14 set him back and Homa made a smooth double bogey on the 15th to drop to 2 over for the day. He dropped another shot at the start, then the pendulum swung back as he made birdies 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 to get back to 2 under.
But Homa’s rollercoaster was derailed again on the par-5 ninth, where he pulled his shot left into a tree and missed a five-footer to drop the putt and finish the day at 1 under.
“I was playing really well, so it was very annoying how strange it was,” said Homa. “But it also made it easier to know that if you keep swinging, it’s going to go in the right direction, but it was one of the weirdest days I’ve ever had.”
After going 12 to 15 in 5 overs, Homa had to find a way to reset quickly, which is easier said than done on Pete Dye’s brutal track.
“You really have to have conversations with yourself that you have to start over,” said Homa. “You’re upset, and you just have to remind yourself that it wasn’t that far. This is a very difficult golf course, so it’s good to make good drives and make good putts to go the other way, but that morning was very difficult.”
But Homa wasn’t the only one to start Thursday at the Players Championships with a hot start before being bled to death by Dye’s mastery.
Tony Finau opened his day with five birdies in his first seven holes. Then, the wheels started to shake. He carded 17 and 18 to move into 3 under. He shot back and No. 1 and No. 2 to fall further, then hit No. 5 to go back.
But Finau finished with a bang, carding 6, 7 and 9 to send him 3 under.
“Overall, it was kind of a roller coaster of a day,” Finau said. “I went early, I got hit in the mouth mid-round with a bunch of bogeys, like jumping on the bogey train.
“I’m just happy that the roller coaster ended up going this way and not down.”
While Homa and Finau had busy days at the Players, no pro had a better day at TPC Sawgrass than Max Greyserman.
The 30-year-old shot 5-under 31 and took an early lead. But Greyserman’s lead was short-lived as he scored on the back nine. He started with three straight bogeys from 10 to 12 and then made a double on 13. Another double followed on 15 before he made a birdie at 16. After going out in 31, Greyserman returned home in 42 to shoot 1 for the day.
The beauty of Pete Dye’s design is that birdies can be had if you put the ball in the right spot, but the big numbers hide if you go out of position.
Either you have a perfect game, or you will be revealed at the end.
“I think it’s one of those unique tests where it doesn’t like any kind of play, and it’s not something you get up and try to swing your best,” said Maverick McNealy, who shot 5 under to take the early lead Thursday. “The number of shots is very important. You have to hit every club in your bag, every shape you can think of.”
If you’re not, TPC Sawgrass can put you in the mix – only mental strength and maybe a little rain delay reset can get you out.
