Vince Whaley's shot of the day and more from the opening day at the Players

USA Today

14-03-2025

Vince Whaley's shot of the day and more from the opening day at the Players No. 13 and 14 was a tough tandem of holes for PGA Tour pros on the first day of The Players
Players Championship superlatives for the first round at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass:
Shot of the day
Vince Whaley, a first-time Players participant, used a pitching wedge from 143 yards out to make an eagle-two at the par-4 seventh hole of the Players Stadium Course. It was the sixth 2 at the hole in the history of The Players and the first since Mark Hubbard in 2021.
However, Whaley didn't sustain his momentum. He led the tournament after a birdie at the 11th hole but back-to-back doubles at Nos. 14 and 15 led to a 73.
Hole of the day
No. 13, par-3, 183 yards
The front-right pin position was difficult for players to get their shots close. Players who hit the green averaged 1.947 putts, the second-most of all the holes in the course, and the seven double-bogeys were the most of any hole. Six players found the water on the front left, the most of any hole except for the par-3 17th and it was the fifth-hardest green to hit (52.8 percent) on the course.
Camilo Villegas, Bud Cauley and Emiliano Grillo both birdied the hole on their way to the front page of the leaderboard but double-bogeys derailed promising rounds by Luvig Åberg, Ricky Castillo and Patton Kizzire.
The 13th averaged 3.125, eighth-most difficult on the course.
Stat of the day
21.2 percent: The percentage of players who reached the par 4 14th green from the right rough (7 of 33). It was the worst greens in regulation percentage from the rough on either side of any hole on the course.
Quote of the day
"It meant the world to me. [I've] wanted to play in this event since I was a little kid, especially living here. Watched it a bunch of times the last few years, so yeah, I couldn't have been more excited. I went and sat in my car for a few minutes afterwards and just kind of let it hit me a little bit, maybe let a tear out."
— Danny Walker, on how he felt when he was told on Thursday morning that the Jacksonville resident was replacing Jason Day in the field after Day withdrew because of an illness.
Island time: How No. 17 played
The par-3 17th hole, with one group left to play it because of the darkness suspension, averaged 3.113, seventh in difficulty on the course.
There were 10 tee shots hit into the water and 11 overall, with Max Greyserman hitting twice into the drink. He made the highest score of the day with a quadruple-bogey 7, and Sam Stevens and Matthew Fitzpatrick both made triples.
The 11 water balls was the second-lowest in the first round since 2017. There are nine in the water in last year's first round.
Then where was Justin Lower. He doused his tee shot, went to the drop zone, and pitched that in for a par.
There were 20 birdies, 98 pars, 16 bogeys, five doubles and three of the dreaded "others," by Greyserman, Fitzpatrick and Stevens.