The Players

The 2023 Players Championship is officially underway with a relatively unknown on top. Chad Ramey fired a bogey free 8-under 64 on Thursday to command the ...

- 11:50 a.m. - 7:56 a.m. - 7:45 a.m. - 7:34 a.m. - 7:23 a.m. - 7:12 a.m. - 7:01 a.m. - 6:50 a.m. All times Eastern Both Scheffler and Rahm look to apply pressure on Ramey with strong Friday showings while McIlroy attempts to climb towards the cutline from 4 over at 12:56 p.m. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa was terrific in the first round en route to a 7-under 65. Chad Ramey fired a bogey free 8-under 64 on Thursday to command the solo lead.

It was the 40th ace in tournament history, the 35th at TPC Sawgrass, and the 11th at the iconic 17th hole. Shane Lowry made the 10th island-green ace ...

I had friends and my wife in the crowd, so I had to entertain them a little bit.” Lucas Herbert entered the hole at 8 over but delivered a confident strike, the ball settling 2 feet away for an easy birdie. He threw his hat in the air and pumped both his fists. Regardless, he intended to savor the moment from one of golf’s most iconic holes. I didn't have much of a reaction,” said Buckley of his first TOUR ace. Playing in the second group off No.

On Thursday at the Players Championship, the PGA Tour's middle class sent a message to the elite. We'll see how the weekend goes at TPC Sawgrass.

The next-lowest winner was [Si Woo Kim](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/7081/si-woo-kim) (75th) in 2017. "The calf was a random thing, just out of nowhere," Lee said. He had four birdies on both the front and back and didn't card a bogey in 18 holes. The only thing I will be thinking on today is a couple wedge shots, about three or four of them out there, that not only didn't I hit them close, some of them I missed the green completely." [Rory McIlroy](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/3470/rory-mcilroy) and defending U.S. You have a little bit of Bermuda in there, and then with the overseed, it's extremely thick." "It gives me the confidence, and deep down I believe I belong out here," Ramey said. Open champion [Matt Fitzpatrick](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9037/matt-fitzpatrick) each carded a 4-over 76 and were 12 shots behind Ramey. 114 in the world, is 3 shots back, along with [Ben Griffin](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/440499/ben-griffin) and [Justin Suh](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/10583/justin-suh), who are Nos. Canada's [Taylor Pendrith](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9658/taylor-pendrith), No. [Chad Ramey](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/10057/chad-ramey), who is ranked No. [Collin Morikawa](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/10592/collin-morikawa), [Scottie Scheffler](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9478/scottie-scheffler) and [Sam Burns](https://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9938/sam-burns), it might be difficult for anyone other than diehard golf fans to recognize players inside the top 10.

Leader Chad Ramey's magnficient beard, Hayden Buckley's ace and Nick Watney's gaffe from eight inches are among the highlights and lowlights from the first ...

He also revealed his [face blew up earlier in the week due to an allergic reaction](https://www.golfdigest.com/story/Players2022-min-woo-lee-first-round-allergic-reaction) to electrolytes. Wise eventually wrote down a 10—tied for the second-worst score on the hole in Players history. He then made Players history with a birdie at 18, becoming the first to go 1-3 to close a TPC Sawgrass round. Our Dave Shedloski had the line of the day: "His first putt was not better than most." [calf cramp that had Golf Twitter howling](https://www.golfdigest.com/story/players-2023-tour-pro-nearly-goes-down-with-leg-cramp-golf-twitter-has-a-field-day). [Chad Ramey, who is ranked 225th in the world and missed three straight cuts going into the week](https://www.golfdigest.com/story/chad-ramey-round-1-players-championship-2023), made four birdies on each side and no bogeys to shoot eight-under 64. The top three ranked players in the world—Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy—have all been on their own heater, and with the trio playing together it figured that one of them might make an early statement. Spieth did make three straight birdies on the back (Nos. Australian Min Woo Lee barely got into the field at No. Though there is some light rain in the forecast for Friday afternoon, it doesn’t look like anything that will affect play, and the field had a beautiful, scoreable day in the first round on Thursday. Rahm, who lost 2.2 strokes to the field in putting, shot 71 and McIlroy struggled to a 76 that will have him grinding to make the weekend cut. The top portion of the leaderboard featured a wide variety of mid-level players, with

The first day of action at TPC Sawgrass saw some of the game's biggest names struggle while others stepped up.

he's 22nd this season in sand save percentage.— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) Nick Watney has two 7s on his back nine, including a 4-putt on No. 10-12 to get to 3 under and just converted a sick up-and-down to remain there. He is actually striking the ball well but ranks 134th in strokes gained putting and 90th in strokes gained around the green. 2 after making a quadruple bogey on No. Nick Watney holes out for eagle on No. Both are 1 over, but Fitzpatrick just hit one in the water on No. His ability to keep the ball in the short grass off the tee will be key moving forward as his short game saved him a number of times when he was out of position. Ramey gained nearly six strokes with the putter on Thursday (two strokes better than his previous career high) and is unlikely to replicate this over the next 54 holes. While the likes of Ramey and other relative unknowns are likely to fade as the week progresses, a player who is sure to be there come the back nine on Sunday is world No. Morikawa's day began in a relatively straightforward fashion with two birdies on his opening half. Collin Morikawa has catapulted himself into contention at the 2023 Players Championship with an opening-round 65 as play was suspended on Thursday due to darkness.

The 2023 Players Championship boasts a record purse and winner's check. Here's how much money is on the line at TPC Sawgrass.

“I’m not going to sit here and lie; I think the emergence of LIV or the emergence of a competitor to the PGA Tour has benefited everyone that plays elite professional golf,” he said. The Players is the Tour’s fifth designated event this season, and the previous three full-field tournaments (not counting the Sentry Tournament of Champions) have boasted $20 million purses and $3.6 million to the winners. (The 2020 Players also had a $15 million purse, but that event was canceled due to Covid-19.) The Minnesota native graduated with a journalism degree from Minnesota State University in Mankato. “At that time we announced increased purses in our events, the events that we’re yielding this year. For those keeping track at home, that’s a $10 million purse increase in just two years.