Fansided

5 groups to watch in the first two rounds of The Players Championship

By Luke Norris

AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 03: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson of the United States look on from the 12th tee during a practice round prior to the start of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 3, 2018 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 03: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson of the United States look on from the 12th tee during a practice round prior to the start of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 3, 2018 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
AKRON, OH – AUGUST 08: Sergio Garcia of Spain (L) and Jason Day of Australia walk up the second fairway during the third round of the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on August 8, 2015 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
AKRON, OH – AUGUST 08: Sergio Garcia of Spain (L) and Jason Day of Australia walk up the second fairway during the third round of the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on August 8, 2015 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson

Thursday, Round 1: 1st tee, 1:41 p.m. ET

Friday, Round 2: 10th tee, 8:16 a.m. ET

Jason Day is the most recent winner on the PGA Tour after his win this past Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, a victory that moved him from 14th to 7th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Day certainly did his best to make it interesting on the back nine on Sunday, hitting his tee shot in the water at the 14th to allow a couple of players back in the mix. However, he quickly recovered and made birdies at 16 and 17, both very tough holes, as part of the “Green Mile” finish to give himself a bit of a cushion. Formerly the top player in the world, the victory Sunday was just Day’s second on the PGA Tour since winning The Players Championship two years ago. But those two victories have come in his last six starts and he also had a T-2 finish at Pebble Beach. Look for Day to finish a bit better than the 60th place finish he had at Sawgrass a year ago.

After three consecutive top-10 finishes (T-7 at the WGC-Mexico, solo fourth at the Valspar, T-9 at the Match Play), Sergio Garcia comes to The Players having missed the cut at The Masters and then again at the Valero Texas Open. But the up-and-down streaks have been Sergio’s thing for a long time, something that rings true at TPC Sawgrass as well. Since his win here in 2008, at the time the biggest win of his career, here’s his finishes: T-22, T-47, T-12, T-56, T-8, 3, T-2, T-54, T-30. There’s really no in-between at this tournament for Garcia. He’s either going to contend or he’s going to finish well off the pace. But it’s still Sergio and it’s certainly always entertaining. Over the last five years, he has a cumulative score of 27-under. Only Rory McIlroy has been better in that stretch.

World No. 15 Henrik Stenson is coming in hot. He’s finished sixth or better in his last three tournaments, including a tie for fifth at The Masters. Rust may be a bit of a factor as he actually hasn’t played a competitive round since Augusta but he’ll likely be ready to put on a show. Like Garcia, Stenson has had an interesting relationship with Sawgrass since winning The Players back in 2009. Since that victory, he does have a top-5 finish, that coming in 2013, but he’s also missed three cuts in that span. He finished tied for 16th last season.

Home/PGA Tour