Chad Ramey

The early rounds of The Players Championship featured a mix of circus shots and miscues at the Stadium Course.

18 and No. He turned and needed just over 6 feet of putts to play the next two holes at 3-under: a birdie putt of 2 feet, 2 inches at No. 16 and birdied No. 16 and 18 but then turned and played the front nine 1-over for a 71. 1 and an eagle putt of 3-7 at No. 10, and bided his time with a string of pars until he dropped a 20-foot putt for birdie at No. Rory McIlroy, ranked third, had an awful day, beginning with a double-bogey on his first hole, the par-4 10th, and finished with a 76. 15 and tapped in for birdie at No. 10 and 11, then highlighted the day with a birdie putt of 13 inches at the par-3 17th hole. 225th-ranked player in the world fired a bogey-free 64 at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and finished one shot ahead of two-time major champion Collin Morikawa. Ramey, a former Mississippi State player, birdied three of his first six holes (including a 30-foot bomb on No. He is the clubhouse leader in his first Players Championship and he made it look easy with a bogey-free 64, one shot clear of two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.

Chad Ramey upstaged the PGA Tour's biggest names to claim a shock lead after the opening round of The Players, where Rory McIlroy endured a nightmare start ...

Live coverage continues on Friday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf, with a host of extra feeds available via the red button. "Not easy at all," Ramey said. Scheffler is joined in the group on four under by Min Woo Lee, who bogeyed his final two holes after suffering cramp late in his round, with Jordan Spieth starting his back nine with three consecutive birdies on his way to a three-under 69. Morikawa held the outright advantage earlier in the day after mixing five birdies with a stunning eagle at the par-five second, where he fired his approach to within four feet of the flag, while Suh made a late charge for the lead when he posted five birdies in a five-hole stretch from the seventh to join the group tied-third. Scheffler birdied three of his last four holes to card an opening-round 68 and current world No 1 Rahm lies seven back after a one-under 71, while McIlroy is in danger of missing the cut after double-bogeying his opening hole and adding four bogeys in a frustrating four-over 76. Collin Morikawa holds second spot and world No 2 Scottie Scheffler is within four of the lead, with Rory McIlroy 12 strokes off the pace struggling to an opening 76; Watch the second round live on Friday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf, with extra feeds via the red button

Chad Ramey and his beard own the opening-round lead at the 2023 Players Championship.

Tony Finau usually goes with a goatee, which is just spitting in the face of whatever god is the god of facial hair. Of course, there are more important matters to attend to: Ramey became a father last week, and was looking forward to face-timing his newborn son after the round. You have to have a lot of flannel in your closet with a beard like that. Sahith Theegala and Jon Rahm have had beards in the past but are currently rocking manicured stubble, and that’s a damn shame to keep beasts so beautiful locked in a cage. “Obviously golf is a lot less important now, and you never know, maybe that's why I played better today," Ramey said. It’s at first intimidating but then comforting, like the gruff, crusty nextdoor neighbor with a heart of gold who wakes up before daylight during blizzards to snowplow the neighborhood cul-de-sac. He’s also mired in a sophomore slump; entering this week he had missed the cut—and to be clear, we’re talking about competition, not shaving—at seven of nine full-field events, and he finished 38th out of the 38-player field at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. It is worthy only of men who can accomplish great feats of labor, like truck drivers and steelworkers and the pioneers who brought the spirit of Manifest Destiny to fruition. Sawgrass is notoriously unkind to first-timers, yes, and also the inaccurate. Apparently his fear of blades does not just apply to his face. Ramey is making his tournament debut and had never seen the course until Monday. Full and thick and jet black, the love child of a Just For Men model and Civil War general.

The one-time PGA Tour winner got off to the perfect start in his first trip to TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship on Thursday carding eight birdies and ...

Chad Ramey made a splash on his Players Championship debut as he emerged as the surprise clubhouse leader on Thursday at Ponte Vedra Beach.

"You don't have a lot of margin to miss out here," said Rahm. I might have made it look that way but it wasn't easy at all," Ramey told reporters after matching his low round of the season. It was a different story for McIlroy, however, as he began his day with a double-bogey at the par-four 10th where he missed the green with his approach, sent his third shot into a bunker and failed to get up and down. "Not easy at all. Ramey, who won his lone PGA Tour title last year in Punta Cana, appeared calm throughout a round in which he birdied four of the first seven holes and added four more on the back nine. Ramey, who missed the cut in his last three PGA Tour starts and is 225th in the world rankings, went out early and carded a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 at TPC Sawgrass that left him one shot clear of two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.

Chad Ramey, playing in his first Players Championship, had a one-shot lead over two-time major champ Collin Morikawa after the opening round Thursday.

[Kelly Kraft](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/6689/kelly-kraft) hit two into the water on his way to a quadruple-bogey 7. [Taylor Pendrith](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9658/taylor-pendrith) and [Ben Griffin](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/440499/ben-griffin) were at 67, while [Justin Suh](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/10583/justin-suh) also was at 5 under with three holes to finish before darkness suspended play. [Scottie Scheffler](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9478/scottie-scheffler) led the group at 68. He was part of the marquee group that featured the top three players in the world -- [Jon Rahm](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9780/jon-rahm) at No. [Rory McIlroy](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/3470/rory-mcilroy) had his highest score in just over a year. The 17th hole had a front pin, typically not seen until Saturday's round, and delivered plenty of excitement, good and bad. But he followed with an eagle on the 11th and added three other birdies to get back to 72. I'm not even in the top 10.' That's just the way this tournament has been for me," he said. His signature shot was a 4-iron to 3 feet for eagle on the par-5 second hole, his 11th of the day, and it came during an eight-hole stretch he played in 6-under par. [Hayden Buckley](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/436475/hayden-buckley) made an ace on the famed island green at the 17th, a hole he had only seen on TV until he arrived this week for his Players Championship debut. [Aaron Wise](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/10577/aaron-wise) lost four balls in a span of two holes -- in the water on the 17th and then three straight tee shots in the drink left of the 18th fairway, where he closed with a 10, one short of the record for highest score on the closing hole. He believes he belongs and can beat anyone, even the strongest field of the year so far.

Chad Ramey, a 30-year-old from Mississippi playing in his first Players Championship is leading the way at 8-under after shooting a bogey-free 64.

“I don’t really listen to a lot of the stuff,’’ he said of any talk that the course was playing harder in the afternoon. “I just kind of go out and play and have fun. If you’re playing from the rough all day, it’s difficult to get close to the hole locations. “It’s really tricky; the rough is thick. Overall, the game feels really good, and I’m going to take that into the next few days and use that momentum.’’ It’s a lot less important now that I have a child, and hate I’m not there with him, but just glad to be here and to at least play well.’’ “I don’t anticipate someone shooting 8-under every day and finishing at 32 [under] this week. “You’ve got to drive it well here,’’ the Canadian said. “Just had a two-way miss. The swing’s feeling good and I put in a lot of work this weekend and Monday through Wednesday to make sure I had that cut.’’ Just kind of push past them, push them aside, and just do what you’ve got to do.’’ “Last week was a weird one,’’ Morikawa said.

The first round of The Players Championship featured a mix of rookies and veterans, Americans and international stars.

He punched out to 69 yards, put his ninth shot on the green and made a 4-footer for a 10 and an 80. Jason Day, the 2016 Players champion, made a run up the leaderboard with four birdies in six holes, but hit his second shot into the water at the par-5 16th hole from out of the trees, and bogeyed. 16 and 18 but then turned and played the front nine 1-over for a 71. He turned and needed just over 6 feet of putts to play the next two holes at 3-under: a birdie putt of 2 feet, 2 inches at No. Rory McIlroy, ranked third, had an awful day, beginning with a double-bogey on his first hole, the par-4 10th, and finished with a 76. 10, and bided his time with a string of pars until he dropped a 20-foot putt for birdie at No. 1 and an eagle putt of 3-7 at No. He said his best shot of the day, a wedge into No. 15 and tapped in for birdie at No. He tied for 23rd but never made his way to the other side of the practice range to the Stadium Course. Ramey birdied three of his first seven holes, capped by a 30-foot putt at No. because of darkness, with seven groups and 21 players remaining on the course.

Chad Ramey carded a stunning 8-under 64 on Thursday to claim a one-stroke lead before play was suspended in the first round of The Players Championship in ...

Until this week, the journeyman Ramey had never before played the Stadium Course at Florida's TPC Sawgrass, but he certainly found it to his liking.

The American signed for a sizzling eight-under 64 around the iconic TPC Sawgrass, just one shot off the course record. Ramey, the 30-year-old from ...

"The three-putt on 16 was probably the one that sort of stopped any momentum. "I just kept plodding along and fortunately I saw some putts go in. "I feel like this is as penal as I've seen it out of the rough for a long time. It's golf." "I might have made it look that way but it wasn't easy at all. "Last week I kind of lost it, I didn't know where the ball was going and I think this score showed I knew where the ball was going and that gave me a lot of freedom to play golf," he told Sky Sports.