Greetings!
What a great first day of the Players Championship. This tournament always feels like the beginning of spring to me, and it’s such a rarity to care a lot about every shot from the very beginning on a Thursday.
Only happens a few times a year, and it’s always such a treat.
Let’s get to a few thoughts on Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass.
Name drops today: Max, Max and Max, Bryson, Nick Watney, crooked NYT and Sam Darnold.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Turtlebox.
Did I open my office doors this afternoon and throw the audio from the broadcast on the Turtlebox? I absolutely did.
Will I continue doing this for other majors (and non-majors) throughout this year? Absolutely. Do I regret giving all of you a window into my golf watching setup? Also yes!
But while you’re here, check out Turtlebox’s fighting lady yellow Ranger (or get your name on the list while they restock for the spring).
And as our friend Brentley Romine pointed out, Turtlebox has you covered whether you're trying to fix a case of the rights in the rain or writing newsletters in the Texas sun.
OK, now onto the news.
As a reminder, this week’s content is partially behind the paywall (though thankfully not behind the moat). You can read it all — as well as the rest of our major championship coverage — by becoming a Normal Club member right here.
1. The golf course was so delightful. Especially before the rain fell. It has become obvious that part of the effort to push the Players as a major championship is a more intense setup compared to recent years. Joseph LaMagna wrote insightfully about that here, and you could literally see it on the broadcast.
Look at the color of this green on a Thursday morning!
I joked that the four majors every year should be determined by which tournament’s greens were the most purple and brown throughout the week. The greens at Sawgrass started out lovely shades of these colors and had golf balls bouncing around all over the yard until the constant drip throughout the day eventually quenched them.
Still, Max Homa said Tuesday’s practice round was insane.
When we played Tuesday because we played in the afternoon, it was very, very firm, and I've never played this place even remotely like that. It'll probably be more comfortable for us playing the rest of the week because I just don't think it's going to get that firm anymore. But it was fun while it lasted.
Max Homa
2. Related: Here are the splits for morning/afternoon waves.
Morning scoring average: 73.92
Afternoon scoring average: 72.36
A stroke and a half difference is a lot. It makes sense, too, given that all the rain happened at noon or after that, but early-late draw could be the bad one depending on what happens on Friday afternoon.
3. I asked on Thursday during the round which big name player people would think about most differently if that person went on to win the tournament this weekend.
I think my vote would be Henley (not sure if he’s a big name player), Bob Mac or Rickie (ties Rory and Scottie with two Players Championships). You could throw Fleetwood in there for me, too, though I already think pretty highly of him. That would be more validation for the way I already think about him.
But I also thought KVV had maybe the best answer.
I don’t think he’s going to win or contend, but he did shoot a nice 71, and this gives me an excuse to post about his insane start.
Eagle
Birdie
Double
Par
Bogey
Double
Par
Made 2-3-4-5-6 on his first five holes. Very normal stuff. Max also had a great line (unsurprisingly) about making a couple of doubles.
You really have to have conversations with yourself that you've got to start over. Some of the doubles I really didn't do that much wrong.
Max Homa
Bogeys and doubles are going to happen. Conversations with yourself that lead to resetting are paramount, and for anyone that’s played golf you know how difficult they are to have.
Homa was also part of a ridiculous trio on Thursday. Between the three guys named Max in the field (Homa, Greyserman, McGreevy), here are their combined scores.
Best ball: 59
Worst ball: 86
Absolute insanity.
We will not forget about Finau's Good Will Hunting 'Do you know how easy this is for me' polo.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members and includes thoughts on …
Scottie’s uneven 72.
Another Rickie comp that floored me.
What Roger Goodell has to do with Tommy Fleetwood.
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