Esteemed golf journalist Jason Sobel runs through all of the day one action as Hayden Buckley aced the 17th and Chad Ramey shot an eight under 64 to propel himself to the summit of the leaderboard.
It’s fair to say that we didn’t exactly ease our way in to the action on Thursday - we jumped in head first - as Hayden Buckley made a hole in one on the 17th hole – just the 11th on that hole in PLAYERS Championship history.
“It’s something you dream about, and a moment that I will look back upon forever!” he told bet365 following his +1 opening round.
Chad Ramey, in his first career round on this golf course, in this tournament, shot an eight under par 64 to grab the early clubhouse lead - and he's into +3300 to win the tournament on debut.
“I just tuck to my game-plan," he said. "I have definitely been hitting them better this week than I have been in a while."
Meanwhile, Colin Morikawa is clinging to his coat-tail after shooting a seven under 65 with a new driver in tow, after struggling off the tee and missing the cut last week.
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy, the pre-tournament +1000 favourite has drifted to +10000 after the past champion shot a four over par 76, having endured a nightmare start to his PLAYERS tournament, with a first hole double bogey.
One player to keep an eye on during Friday’s play however is the former world number one Scottie Scheffler - a +500 shot - who opened with nine straight pars and came in with a back nine 32 to register a more than satisfactory four under par.
“I think the scores are going to ebb and flow and we will see what happens, but I am definitely happy with how I played today," he told bet365 after his opening 18.
Golf
WATCH: THE PLAYERS Championship: Hayden Buckley on his hole-in-one on 17
It's perhaps the most famous par-3 in the world, and over the years, it had seen 10 holes-in-one... until Thursday morning.
bet365 News Team
Mar 09 2023
