PGA Tour Brunch - 1st Round The Players

Opening Round Preview by @PGATourBrunch for 2021 Players

Mar 11, 2021

The Players Championship 2021 - Opening Round

From 2007 to 2018, The Players Championship was staged in the month of May. The tournament has been played at Ponte Vedra Beach ever since 1977. From 2011-to-2014, the winning scorecard read (275) each year as KJ Choi (2011), Matt Kuchar (2012), Tiger Woods (2013) and Martin Kaymer (2014) all hit the winner’s circle with that magic score.

Golf Channel noted: The past five winners (and 11 of the last 13) have been in the early-late wave (Thur-Fri) to begin The Players. Some of the most intriguing guys in that group this year: Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler.

The Top 10 Career Money Winners at The Players: (events) (money)

1. Sergio Garcia (20) - $5,466,153.43

2. Tiger Woods (19) - $4,724,366.90

3. Jim Furyk (23) - $4,081,763.72

4. Adam Scott (18) - $3,507,107.62

5. Rory McIlroy (10) - $3,333,787.50

6. Henrik Stenson (14) - $3,305,908.93

7. Matt Kuchar (15) - $3,097,894.27

8. Jason Day (9) $3,075,269.29

9. Phil Mickelson (26) $2,900,485.65

10. Stephen Ames (13) $2,781,333.34

The 2021 Players Championship marks the one-year anniversary since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the USA 9and world), sports and professional golf for a solid three months. Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record with a (63) before the tournament was called-off last spring.

Rory McIlroy was nine strokes behind Matsuyama when the tournament was cancelled after the first round last year as the coronvarius pandemic gripped the world. “I think I feel a bit better about that than Hideki does," joked McIlroy when asked on Tuesday (March 9) about not chasing nine shots to defend his title this year. McIlroy enters The Players Championship with consecutive top 10 finishes.

Last spring, Harris English, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Si Woo Kim were T-2 behind Matsuyama after R-1 (65s). Keegan Bradley and Tommy Fleetwood were the first round leaders in 2019.

#DriveOutHunger - Five-time PGA Tour winner, 2014 FedExCup champion and Ponte Vedra Beach resident Billy Horschel once again will host his #DriveOutHunger campaign to help feed the people of Northeast Florida. He will donate $1000 for every birdie and $5000 for every eagle that he makes during THE Players to the fund.

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The Tournament Tee Times begin today at 6:45am (ET/local) through 2:17pm (ET/local). (link)

Weather for today: Partly Cloudy with a 10% chance of rain. Temperature expected to be 63-degrees with winds from East at 11 mph. The forecast is similar for Friday, but mostly sunny with winds ranging from East/NE at 9 mph. Expect Partly cloudy skies and similar weather and 10-11 mph winds on the weekend.

PGATourBrunch will be serving an early “BRUNCH” and posting at 6am ET today-Friday and 7:00am ET Saturday-Sunday to meet the early tee-off times.

Next Week: The Honda Classic

Field Updates:

Brooks Koepka (strained right knee) - OUT; Anirban Lahiri (in)

Danny Willett (WD) (COVID+ test) - OUT

Willett Tests COVID+ (ESPN)

John Huh (OUT from alternate list)

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: The Players Championship

COURSE: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye.

YARDS/PAR: 7,189 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $15,000,000/$2,700,000

DEFENDING Champion from 2019: Rory McIlroy (2019 Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 3,375/600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @ThePlayersChamp

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, March 11 and Friday, March 12: 12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 - 1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Thursday and Friday from 6:30am to 6:00pm (ET); and on Saturday (7:45am-6:00pm ET) and Sunday (7:45am-6:00pm ET), PGA Tour Live will stream Featured Holes on Saturday (3:00pm to 6:00pm ET) and Sunday from 2:30pm to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA Tour is also offering “Every Shot Live” on Thursday and Friday from 6:45am to 8:00pm ET and on Saturday and Sunday from 7:50am to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Thursday, March 11 - Friday, March 12 - 11:00am to 6:00pm (ET); then Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14: (12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

Remember: Eastern Standard Time switches to Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday night. (clocks will “Spring Ahead” one hour).

TOURNAMENT SITE (link)

Predictions:

A PREDICTION OR TWO:

TL’s Wedge Edge: For the weekly PGA Tour Fantasy Game, my initial foursome will be coming VERY strong, no holding back: Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Webb Simpson. Back-ups on the bench in this incredibly strong field are: Viktor Hovland and Hideki Matsuyama.

For PGA Tour One and Done? I’m going a different route and selecting my back-up Hideki Matsuyama and his (35-1) odds for a player some might overlook. Remember, he was leading after R-1 last year before they pulled the plug on 2020 Players.

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Quick Look/Key Information:

Last Week’s Final Leaderboard from the Arnold Palmer Invitational (link)

2020 Players Championship was cancelled after one round of the tournament due to COVID-19 global pandemic break-out.

2019 Players Championship Results (Rory McIlroy was Champion) - (link)

Past Winners and Runners-Up at The Players (link)

What They’re Saying:

Unfinished Business at The Players (USA Today/Golf Week)

Fans Eager to Renew Players Tradition (News4 Jax)

Things to Know (Golf Channel)

#SportsBiz, Sporting Gambling and Golf Industry News

Rory McIlroy Suggests Tiger Woods Might Leave Hospital Soon (ESPN)

A Look Back at Founding Members of TPC Sawgrass (Golf Week/USA Today)

ESPN Predictions and Plays for The Players (ESPN+)

On This Day in Golf History:

March 11, 1945 - Byron Nelson’s record of 11 consecutive tournament championships began at the Miami Four-Ball Championship at Miami Springs Country Club. Nelson teamed-up with Harold “Jugs” McSpadden for the four-ball title. Nelson would go another five months until finishing fourth at the Memphis Open in August. (Courtesy of Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE

While We’re Young (Ideas):

Be SURE to test drive the weekly Sunday Sports Notes Column, “While We’re Young (Ideas)” by @TerryLyons. Sent once a week for your (late) Saturday night or Early Sunday morning entertainment. You can sample and subscribe HERE