Sepp Straka part of 4-way tie at
the top at The Players Championship in wild weather
[March 13, 2026]
By DOUG FERGUSON
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Sepp Straka saved par seven times and
chipped in for eagle late in his round Thursday while avoiding big
trouble on the TPC Sawgrass for a 5-under 67 that gave him a share
of the lead at The Players Championship amid wind, rain, sunshine
and darkness.
Whether he remained top the leaderboard with Maverick McNealy, Lee
Hodges and Sahith Theegala would not be determined until Friday
morning.
Austin Smotherman was at 5 under and had a 15-foot birdie putt on
his final hole, the par-5 ninth. It looked as though he might try to
finish, but when two players in his group ran into trouble and
darkness thickened, he stuck tees in the ground to mark it until the
morning.
“Do I wish I hit the chip in the morning as well? Went back and
forth,” Smotherman said. “The fact I was even questioning it, I
probably should have maybe backed off.”
The 12 hours of golf was enough time for plenty of theatrics — 38
balls in the water along the three closing holes on the Stadium
Course, two eagles from the fairway and a downpour that led to a
21-minute delay. By the afternoon, rain gave way to the sun casting
shadows within minutes.
Rory McIlroy said he never doubted he would play after missing the
Bay Hill weekend with back spasms on Saturday. He felt no pain
except for the putter, failing to make anything longer than 6 feet
in his round of 74.
Instead, the back problems fell to Collin Morikawa. He has been
among the top players this season and withdrew after one hole. He
felt his back seize up during a practice swing. Ryan Fox never made
it to the course. The illness he cited upon withdrawing turned out
to be kidney stones that had to be surgically removed.
The pain for Scottie Scheffler was his fourth opening round in his
last five tournaments without breaking par. He struggled to find the
fairway and spent more than hour on the range in a downpour after
his 72.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was no one — depending on Smotherman's
putt Friday morning — was lower than 67. The last time 67 was
leading The Players was in 2017.
“No one went really low this afternoon, which I expected them to,
just because the conditions were pretty benign,” McIlroy said in
assessing his score and realizing he's not out of it.
Straka managed to go bogey-free, with some serious scrambling on the
back nine. He saved par with a 12-foot putt on No. 10, hit into the
water with his second shot on the par-5 11 and escaped with par with
another 12-foot putt. He chipped in from 50 feet for his eagle on
the par-5 16th, and then clipped a wedge to tap-in range from 67
yards out in the fairway on the 18th.
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Maverick McNealy hits a shot on the 10th hole during the first round
of The Players Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 12,
2026, in Ponte Bedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“I felt like all day I was playing from the rough,
which is not ideal out here,” Straka said. “Fortunately my iron play
and wedge play was pretty nice today, and I was able to make a lot
of putts to save some pars.”
Theegala, who made three straight birdies early, ran into trouble
from the left bunker for bogey on the par-5 ninth and then turned
his fortunes around when his wedge from just under 100 yards rammed
into the cup for eagle on No. 12.
“For it to crash into the pin and go in is pretty cool. It’s a nice
bonus,” Theegala said.
The attention on backs were not just for Morikawa and McIlroy.
Justin Thomas returned from back surgery in November last week at
Bay Hill and shot 79-79. That felt like a distant memory when he
opened with three straight birdies and wound up with a 68.
“Literally every single thing you could imagine I did quite a bit
better,” Thomas said.
Cameron Young, who contended at Bay Hill last week, Russell Henley
and Taylor Moore also were at 68. The group at 69 included Xander
Schauffele and Tony Finau, who had four straight birdies and
followed that with four straight bogeys.
Henley was lucky to finish his round, and had nothing to do with
injury. He played in the morning during the brief delay, and it was
raining so hard he dashed to the clubhouse from the nearby second
green without realizing players were being held in place for the
fast-moving storm.
Ben Griffin saved him by telling him play was starting, and Henley
got back to the green.
That delay was enough to keep four players from finishing the round.
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