2025 Players Championship, Day 1 recap: Three tied for lead; Rory McIlroy one back

It was a wild conclusion to the opening round for most of the super group: An erratic tee shot sent Xander Schauffele to a double-bogey on 18, while Rory McIlroy hit an incredible punch out from trouble to within 8 feet for birdie. Scottie Scheffler made par.

They finished at 5 under (McIlroy), 3 under (Scheffler) and even par (Schauffele).

J.J. Spaun had about as clean a round as you can imagine: He birdied all the par-5s, along with two of the par-4s, didn’t make a bogey and heads into the clubhouse with a 6-under 66.

He’s tied, at the moment, with Glover and Villegas.

Chandler Phillips eagles the 9th hole to give him his third eagle on the day.

He ends with a 4-under 68, and this is how he got there: one triple bogey, three bogeys, seven pars, four birdies, three eagles. Golf.

(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Camilo Villegas’s eighth birdie of the day came in style, chipping in from 35 feet to take the lead at 7 under par, ahead of Lucas Glover.

Chandler Phillips had just birdied the 7th (his 16th hole) and was one shot off the lead at 5 under par — but that’s where things went south. He triple-bogeyed the par-3 8th, moving from T-3 to T-23 just like that.

Camilo Villegas made a 29-footer on the 3rd (his 12th of the day), then birdied the 4th as well to move to 6 under, tying Lucas Glover atop the leaderboard.

Chandler Phillips, once at 6 under himself, has dropped two shots.

(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

An amazing escape over the trees and out of trouble, then a drilled 12-footer, gives Rory McIlroy four straight birdies from holes 9 through 12.

He’s at 4 under par, two back of the lead.

Chandler Phillips’ scorching-hot opening round continued with a chip-in for eagle, his second of the day, on the par-5 11th.

He ties Glover at 6 under par.

Glover’s lead might not hold much longer: Min Woo Lee carded five birdies on the front nine to start his Players Championship at 5 under par.

Not to be outdone, Camilo Villegas has collected five birdies of his own through eight holes. He’s also 5 under.

Phillips drilled a 38-footer for eagle on hole 16 (his seventh hole of the day), moving him to 4-under already.

He’s tied with six others, four of whom are in the clubhouse.

Bud Cauley is the fourth player in the clubhouse at T-2. He had just six pars on the day, with four bogeys and eight birdies.

Aaron Rai slipped up with a bogey on 17 — a hole he aced two years ago — but he’s still T-2 after a 4-under 68.

Stephan Jaeger sank a 45-footer on 17 en route to a 68 of his own.

After a dizzying first nine, Spieth settled down to shoot 2-under 70.

Beginning at the 10th, he had two eagle hole-outs, two birdies, two bogeys, two pars and one double for an inward 34.

He came home in even-par 36 — with one birdie and one bogey.

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McIlroy made his from 7 feet, Schauffele from 4 feet. Scheffler began his title defense with a par.

Lucas Glover made nine (!) birdies and three bogeys in shooting 6-under 66. He’s two clear of the field.

Glover, who birdied Nos. 15-18 Thursday, has played this event on 16 previous occasions with his best finish a solo third in 2010.

Lucas Glover makes all the ‘nervy and gross’ putts Thursday to co-lead Players Championship

The key was on the greens where he picked up more than 2 ½ shots on the field in strokes gained: putting and rolled in 120 feet of putts.

• Rex Hoggard,

• Rex Hoggard,

Thomas had two birdies over his first seven holes and back-to-back birdies to close. In between, however, he was 10 over.

Beginning on the back nine, JT doubled the 17th, tripled the 18th, doubled the fifth, and added three other bogeys.

It totaled 6-over 78 for the 2021 champ.

The RBC Heritage champ holed out from off the green for eagle at the par-5 ninth, his final hole of the day.

McNealy finished with one eagle, one double, one birdie, one bogey and an even-par 72.

Two years ago, Smalley aced the par-3 17th in the final round on his way to a tie for 65th.

Thursday, he made a ‘2' on the island hole, part of a 4-birdie, no-bogey 68. He’s the clubhouse leader at TPC Sawgrass.

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Watch live first-round action on Golf Channel or click here to watch on the NBC Sports app.

GolfChannel.com senior writers Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner discuss who they think will fare best: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy or Xander Schauffele.

Homa turns in 6-over 42 with double bogeys on Nos. 4 and 9.

Beginning at the 10th, Thomas was 2 under through seven holes. He then found water on both 17 and 18, going double-triple to fall to 3 over.

Jordan is in full Spieth mode in Round 1 of The Players. Through seven holes, he has two eagles, one double, one birdie, one bogey and two pars.

His second eagle hole-out, which put him one off the lead, came at the par-5 16th:

Following his birdie-eagle start, Spieth hooked his tee shot into the water at the par-4 14th (his fifth hole) and made double bogey. That dropped him to 1 under and one off the pace.

Fred Couples won two Players Championships in his career but he might be more remembered for his “hole-in-three” at the 17th in 1999.

Justin Lower had his Couples moment Thursday morning.

If you don’t count the Creator Classic, Lanto Griffin officially hits the first ball in the water at the par-3 17th.

Early leader at 3 under through two.

That didn’t take long:

Looks familiar, doesn’t it?

Ernie Els could be competing in this week’s Players Championship via his ’24 Kaulig Companies Championship (formerly the Senior Players) title.

He opted not to play but did have some words Thursday morning for fellow four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, who stated yesterday that he would “absolutely not” compete on the PGA Tour Champions.

In case you missed it yesterday, Alejandro Tosti aced the par-3 17th in practice and then took a dive into the water around the island green.

BUT ... it was almost ordained. He actually told our Johnson Wagner he’d do such a thing if he ever made a hole-in-one at No. 17.

David Lipsky makes the first birdie of the tournament, doing so on the 10th hole (his first).

The 37-year-old Aussie won this event in 2016.

Past champion Jason Day withdraws from Players Championship

Day, who contended last week at Bay Hill, was among the favorites this week at TPC Sawgrass.

• Golf Channel Staff,

• Golf Channel Staff,

Here’s a look at when play begins and who will be going out with whom:

The Players Championship 2025: First-round tee times, groupings at TPC Sawgrass

Tee times and grouping for the first round of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

• Golf Channel Staff,

• Golf Channel Staff,