Greetings!
What a great first day of the Players Championship. This tournament always feels like the beginning of spring to me, and it’s such a rarity to care a lot about every shot from the very beginning on a Thursday.
Only happens a few times a year, and it’s always such a treat.
Let’s get to a few thoughts on Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass.
Name drops today: Max, Max and Max, Bryson, Nick Watney, crooked NYT and Sam Darnold.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Turtlebox.
Did I open my office doors this afternoon and throw the audio from the broadcast on the Turtlebox? I absolutely did.
Will I continue doing this for other majors (and non-majors) throughout this year? Absolutely. Do I regret giving all of you a window into my golf watching setup? Also yes!
But while you’re here, check out Turtlebox’s fighting lady yellow Ranger (or get your name on the list while they restock for the spring).
And as our friend Brentley Romine pointed out, Turtlebox has you covered whether you're trying to fix a case of the rights in the rain or writing newsletters in the Texas sun.
OK, now onto the news.
As a reminder, this week’s content is partially behind the paywall (though thankfully not behind the moat). You can read it all — as well as the rest of our major championship coverage — by becoming a Normal Club member right here.
1. The golf course was so delightful. Especially before the rain fell. It has become obvious that part of the effort to push the Players as a major championship is a more intense setup compared to recent years. Joseph LaMagna wrote insightfully about that here, and you could literally see it on the broadcast.
Look at the color of this green on a Thursday morning!
I joked that the four majors every year should be determined by which tournament’s greens were the most purple and brown throughout the week. The greens at Sawgrass started out lovely shades of these colors and had golf balls bouncing around all over the yard until the constant drip throughout the day eventually quenched them.
Still, Max Homa said Tuesday’s practice round was insane.
When we played Tuesday because we played in the afternoon, it was very, very firm, and I've never played this place even remotely like that. It'll probably be more comfortable for us playing the rest of the week because I just don't think it's going to get that firm anymore. But it was fun while it lasted.
Max Homa
2. Related: Here are the splits for morning/afternoon waves.
Morning scoring average: 73.92
Afternoon scoring average: 72.36
A stroke and a half difference is a lot. It makes sense, too, given that all the rain happened at noon or after that, but early-late draw could be the bad one depending on what happens on Friday afternoon.
3. I asked on Thursday during the round which big name player people would think about most differently if that person went on to win the tournament this weekend.
I think my vote would be Henley (not sure if he’s a big name player), Bob Mac or Rickie (ties Rory and Scottie with two Players Championships). You could throw Fleetwood in there for me, too, though I already think pretty highly of him. That would be more validation for the way I already think about him.
But I also thought KVV had maybe the best answer.
I don’t think he’s going to win or contend, but he did shoot a nice 71, and this gives me an excuse to post about his insane start.
Eagle
Birdie
Double
Par
Bogey
Double
Par
Made 2-3-4-5-6 on his first five holes. Very normal stuff. Max also had a great line (unsurprisingly) about making a couple of doubles.
You really have to have conversations with yourself that you've got to start over. Some of the doubles I really didn't do that much wrong.
Max Homa
Bogeys and doubles are going to happen. Conversations with yourself that lead to resetting are paramount, and for anyone that’s played golf you know how difficult they are to have.
Homa was also part of a ridiculous trio on Thursday. Between the three guys named Max in the field (Homa, Greyserman, McGreevy), here are their combined scores.
Best ball: 59
Worst ball: 86
Absolute insanity.
We will not forget about Finau's Good Will Hunting 'Do you know how easy this is for me' polo.
4. Scottie couldn’t stop missing right off the tee on Thursday. He went right so many times I’m getting word that the crooked and liberal New York Times is refusing to cover the rest of his event. I’m kidding!
Jamie Kennedy had a good summation of the day here.
Scottie talked afterward about why he had the rights so hard during his round. He switched back into his old driver this week — his 2024/2025 driver — after going to a new one last week. And last week, he had the lefts so he said he was mentally compensating for that even though he was back in his regular gamer. And now he has the rights. Golf is impossible.
Why you would switch drivers in the middle of literally the best non-Tiger run in, what, 40 years (longer?), I have no idea.
But it’s not just the driver. I watched most of his shots on Thursday, and he’s just a little … off. Not big off like about to shoot 78, but just some putt speed stuff and some wedge distances. The little things that add up.
I’m sure he’ll bounce back with a 68 on Friday, and off to the races. But he does look uncomfortable in ways we haven’t really seen in the last three years.
On a scale of 1 to this meme …
… I’m about a 4 concerned.
5. Also, this is sweet.
But also, if Bryson did it, we would say he’s thirstier than those greens that needed water throughout the day on Thursday. Context always matters, and we never judge people in a vacuum — which is to say that it’s much easier to believe that Scottie is doing this earnestly than it would be with a lot of other guys — but that thought about Bryson did strike me as I watched Scottie grind.
6. This is wiiiiiiiild to me.
I think if Tommy (who is a few years younger than Rickie) already had the better career right now then I would understand 83-17 in his direction, but it’s indisputable that Rickie currently holds the better career.
And yeah, Tommy may win an Open and Riviera. Heck, he may win this weekend.
But he also has one PGA Tour win, and Rickie has been about the same or maybe a slightley better major player than he has (23 percent top 10s to 20 percent for Tommy).
Yes, Tommy has been far better at Ryder Cups, and that absolutely matters. But the individual gap between them is not small enough for Ryder Cup performance alone to overcome the difference.
Rickie’s career — which is still going (and thriving!) — gets totally slept on, and I’m going to continue banging that drum until people stop treating him like he’s Nick Watney 2.0 (Rick Watney).
7. Can you imagine Roger Goodell handing Sam Darnold the Super Bowl trophy while Sam Darnold just played the game in a jersey and hat depicting the Super Bowl trophy?
What a strange and wonderful sport.
Tommy's free [hair] agency
8. JT’s 68 was stunning after he shot 14 over at Bay Hill last week. He’s so much fun to watch at this golf course (and all golf courses), and I love that pace-y three-quarters wedge he hits. It is the coolest looking shot.
He talked after about what the toughest part about knocking rust off has been. I thought his answer was interesting.
Probably just the ease of everything, the confidence, the belief. A lot of confidence comes from doing it in competition. It doesn't matter necessarily how much -- it helps when you're able to do things a lot in practice. You're almost kind of muscle memory.
Justin Thomas
We’re talking about a two-time major winner who has 16 PGA Tour victories, and he’s like, I just don’t have the belief in myself yet.
That fascinates me because as someone who wakes up sometimes lacking confidence, it’s extremely relatable.
[Jason here] Towards the end of Round 1 I realized that the nationalities on the first page of the leaderboard could be reduced to three hot dogs. That's how I win.
9. This is kind of dumb, like Jason's hotdog illustration, but I love all the different versions of TPC Sawgrass. The early morning mega-dew, sunlight sifting through the trees version. The baked out early afternoon where greens should be called browns. And (maybe mostly) the twilight look where guys are holding on and you’re already thinking about who’s going to take control of the tournament on the following day.
Major, not a major, I don’t really care. I absolutely love everything about this golf tournament and am pumped to see how things go over the next 54 holes.
10. This right here … it’s a Rory McIlroy tweet.
Rory pumped one 187 off the first on Thursday with back spasms, which is exactly his average ball speed off the tee in 2026. A decade ago — when he was 26 years old — that number was just 179.3. He’s 10 years older and has gained 8 mph.
Some of this arc is a testament to his improvement as a player, but also some of it is just a commentary on the state of pro golf in general. Rory ranked No. 11 on the PGA Tour in 2016 at 179.3 mph. This year, Taylor Pendrith ranks No. 37 at 179.3 mph.
The game has changed a lot. Rory has changed with it. He’s probably not going to defend this year and become the first to win three Players at TPC Sawgrass, but I’m always going to take the opportunity to celebrate his insane longevity at the highest level imaginable.
Thank you for reading our handcrafted, algorithm-free newsletter. Don’t forget to check out our Rory/Masters book. As always, we appreciate your support of our business.
Greetings!
What a great first day of the Players Championship. This tournament always feels like the beginning of spring to me, and it’s such a rarity to care a lot about every shot from the very beginning on a Thursday.
Only happens a few times a year, and it’s always such a treat.
Let’s get to a few thoughts on Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass.
Name drops today: Max, Max and Max, Bryson, Nick Watney, crooked NYT and Sam Darnold.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Turtlebox.
Did I open my office doors this afternoon and throw the audio from the broadcast on the Turtlebox? I absolutely did.
Will I continue doing this for other majors (and non-majors) throughout this year? Absolutely. Do I regret giving all of you a window into my golf watching setup? Also yes!
But while you’re here, check out Turtlebox’s fighting lady yellow Ranger (or get your name on the list while they restock for the spring).
And as our friend Brentley Romine pointed out, Turtlebox has you covered whether you're trying to fix a case of the rights in the rain or writing newsletters in the Texas sun.
OK, now onto the news.
As a reminder, this week’s content is partially behind the paywall (though thankfully not behind the moat). You can read it all — as well as the rest of our major championship coverage — by becoming a Normal Club member right here.
1. The golf course was so delightful. Especially before the rain fell. It has become obvious that part of the effort to push the Players as a major championship is a more intense setup compared to recent years. Joseph LaMagna wrote insightfully about that here, and you could literally see it on the broadcast.
Look at the color of this green on a Thursday morning!
I joked that the four majors every year should be determined by which tournament’s greens were the most purple and brown throughout the week. The greens at Sawgrass started out lovely shades of these colors and had golf balls bouncing around all over the yard until the constant drip throughout the day eventually quenched them.
Still, Max Homa said Tuesday’s practice round was insane.
When we played Tuesday because we played in the afternoon, it was very, very firm, and I've never played this place even remotely like that. It'll probably be more comfortable for us playing the rest of the week because I just don't think it's going to get that firm anymore. But it was fun while it lasted.
Max Homa
2. Related: Here are the splits for morning/afternoon waves.
Morning scoring average: 73.92
Afternoon scoring average: 72.36
A stroke and a half difference is a lot. It makes sense, too, given that all the rain happened at noon or after that, but early-late draw could be the bad one depending on what happens on Friday afternoon.
3. I asked on Thursday during the round which big name player people would think about most differently if that person went on to win the tournament this weekend.
I think my vote would be Henley (not sure if he’s a big name player), Bob Mac or Rickie (ties Rory and Scottie with two Players Championships). You could throw Fleetwood in there for me, too, though I already think pretty highly of him. That would be more validation for the way I already think about him.
But I also thought KVV had maybe the best answer.
I don’t think he’s going to win or contend, but he did shoot a nice 71, and this gives me an excuse to post about his insane start.
Eagle
Birdie
Double
Par
Bogey
Double
Par
Made 2-3-4-5-6 on his first five holes. Very normal stuff. Max also had a great line (unsurprisingly) about making a couple of doubles.
You really have to have conversations with yourself that you've got to start over. Some of the doubles I really didn't do that much wrong.
Max Homa
Bogeys and doubles are going to happen. Conversations with yourself that lead to resetting are paramount, and for anyone that’s played golf you know how difficult they are to have.
Homa was also part of a ridiculous trio on Thursday. Between the three guys named Max in the field (Homa, Greyserman, McGreevy), here are their combined scores.
Best ball: 59
Worst ball: 86
Absolute insanity.
We will not forget about Finau's Good Will Hunting 'Do you know how easy this is for me' polo.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members and includes thoughts on …
Scottie’s uneven 72.
Another Rickie comp that floored me.
What Roger Goodell has to do with Tommy Fleetwood.
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