cAmilo Villegas and Nicolás Echavarría, the two Colombians who play The Players, the 'big fifth' in world golf, had a similar score, but different difficulties in the first round of the tournament, which was played this Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach (Florida, USA)
The first day of the contest left three of the major candidates for the title tied for first place, in a day that could not be completed due to lack of light.
Both Villegas and Echavarría delivered cards of 73 strokes, one over par. The first, the more experienced of the two, is in his eleventh participation, and his first in eight years.
Villegas started well, with birdies on the first two holes. But then he continued with ups and downs: two bogeys, on 3 and 4; birdie on 6, double bogey on the par 3 8, bogey on 9, birdie on 10, bogey on 15 and birdie on 16.
Echavarría, for his part, started on the 10th hole and also reached two under par, with birdies on the 11th and 13th. However, he made double bogey on the 16th.
In the second half of his round, Echavarría scored another birdie on No. 4, but closed with bogeys on No. 7 and No. 9.
Three candidates for the title, at the top
At the top of the table, the lead is shared by the Americans Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark and the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, all tied with 65 strokes, seven under par.
Clark is one of the players with the best form at the beginning of the season: he came into the tournament as second place in the FedEx Cup, thanks to his victory at Pebble Beach and his second place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And he confirmed that record with a very good start.
Even more outstanding was McIlroy, who is seeking his second crown at The Players, after winning the tournament in 2019. He equaled one of the tournament's records by scoring ten birdies in his round, although he could have finished much better if he had not thrown the ball. ball into the water twice, on the 18th and on the 7th (it started on the 10th).
“I have this amazing feeling with my woods right now, but when I try to recreate that feeling with the irons, it starts to the left and goes further to the left,” he declared Wednesday, before his first round.
The Players delivers the largest purse on the PGA Tour: 25 million dollars, of which the champion takes 4.5 million.
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