If you didn't buy that the Players Championship is considered golf's "fifth major," it takes just one look at the leaderboard to confirm that reputation.
Tearing up the course with a record-tying score of 63, Roberto Castro came from depths unknown (Georgia) to open up a three-stroke lead on the competition. Castro's performance was by far his best of the season, an expert display of approaches—all seemingly within mere feet of the cup.
As to be expected, Castro will need to overcome stiff competition to keep that lead. Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson are right behind him at six under, and Tiger Woods is just one more stroke behind after shooting a 67. The leaderboard features a bevy of top names, who all took advantage of the advantageous conditions at the Stadium Course.
Those low scores should be just fine with TPC Sawgrass officials. As long as these top names are all in contention, the television networks and those in attendance will be nothing short of thrilled. So even if the course goes all Tiger Woods 14 on the golfers and starts giving up eagles at will, you won't hear a complaint.
History says the Stadium Course won't be so tame going forward, though—and that could start with Round 2. With that in mind, here is a complete breakdown of everything you need to know about Friday's action.
So much for Woods' struggles at Sawgrass, eh? The world's top-ranked golfer played a fantastic round on Thursday, finishing the round with a five-under score of 67 to put him in a tie for fourth place heading into Round 2.
As always is the case when Woods is at his best, he avoided costly mistakes. The only bogey on his day was at No. 18, which put a sour cap on an otherwise brilliant day. He hit 71.4 percent of his fairways, using his driver only when needed and spraying solid shots down the fairway when he broke out the big stick.
El Tigre's putter continued to play a major factor in his solid season. Woods averaged a very solid 1.5 putts per greens in regulation, a number that puts him among the leaders in that statistic. And with a birdie on each of the four par-five holes, Woods' Round 1 had all the makings of a classic Tiger performance.
It will be interesting to see if he can keep it going heading into the weekend. Sawgrass has given Woods fits, with last year's tie for 40th place being his best result since 2009. If Thursday was any indication of what's to come, Woods should be stay in contention for his first Players Championship in over a decade.
As for the man who won this event last year, well, there's a reason no one has ever won this event in consecutive years. Kuchar's score of one-under isn't dreadful by any stretch, but he should feel lucky to even have carded that solid of a round.
In particular, Kuchar's driver failed him on Thursday. Always a solid boomer off the tee, Kuchar had real problems keeping his ball in the fairway. He hit only 57.1 percent of his tee shoots on the fairway, leading to a continuous string of scrambles on otherwise-easy holes. And with 1.8 putts per green in regulation, Kuchar didn't do a great job of finishing the shots he got.
Snedeker, the least-covered of this threesome, had quite a few problems with consistency himself—just not off tee. While the 32-year-old Tennessee native was able to knock 85.7 percent of his shots into the short stuff, his approach game was wildly inaccurate. A stretch of five straight birdies was captivating, but Snedeker is going to have to work on his irons before Friday's second round.
Roberto Castro and Jason Bohn have combined to miss the cut 14 times in PGA Tour events this season. Castro and Bohn have also combined to go a sterling 13-under through the first 18 holes at the Players Championship, vaulting one of the most-ignored groups in the entire tournament to the forefront.
Castro's round has obviously gotten the most praise. The 27-year-old former Georgia Tech standout carded a nine-under score of 63, tying the Stadium Course record and giving him a three-shot lead heading into Round 2.
Starting his day on the back nine, Castro quickly made slight work of the TPC Sawgrass course. He carded five birdies in his first nine holes, including a stretch of three straight to vault him into contention. Castro finished his bogey-free round having birdied seven holes and eagled at par-five second hole.
It was a display of utter brilliance, especially on the approach. As Kelly Tilghman of Golf Channel noted, Castro made no putt longer than 10 feet the entire round:
While he's probably still not a favorite in most people's eyes—being cut in half of your tournaments will do that—Castro could make history if he takes the Players Championship. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he would join Jack Nicklaus, Hal Sutton and Craig Perks as golfers who won TPC in their first start:
Meanwhile, Castro overshadowed a very nice round from his playing partner Bohn. The 40-year-old longtime pro has had a string of bad performances this season, but showed some real promising signs in Round 1. He matched Castro's seven birdies, staying accurate off the tee while not submarining himself on the greens.
But even after one of his better rounds of this season, Bohn could not help but talk about Castro's scintillating round. According to Alex Myers of Golf Digest, the former Alabama star categorized the performance as "beautiful":
This threesome was arguably the most hyped coming into the first two rounds, and they did anything but disappoint on Thursday. The trio combined to go 14-under, with Scott being the lone wolf outside the top four.
And I know what you're thinking. Yes, that means McIlroy finally broke his career-long stretch of never breaking par at the Players Championship. The world's second-ranked golfer did so in style, too, shooting a six-under score of 66 to finish in a tie for second place with Zach Johnson.
For the second straight week, McIlroy looked like a player who had long forgotten about his Masters failures. Starting on hole No. 10, he birdied five of his first nine holes and seemed like the one golfer who could challenge Castro's astounding score. Though things petered out on the front nine, McIlroy is well on his way to another first at the Players Championship—his first made cut.
And it very easily could be more. As ESPN's Justin Ray points out, McIlroy has been a monster on Peter Dye-designed courses his last three times out:
Already having found success as the 2004 Players Championship winner, Scott looked strong in his first round since winning the Masters. Though his putting was a bit of a mess, the 32-year-old Australian avoided too many deep valleys en route to a three-under 69. If he gets the short stick under control, Scott should jump right back toward the top of the leaderboard this weekend.
As for Stricker? It's hard to say anything about him that you don't already hear. The 46-year-old is a consummate professional and almost always shows up in contention in these high-profile events. Don't expect him to go anywhere after shooting a five-under 67.
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