Nick Dougherty
Golf expert
Sergio Garcia, the 2008 champion, is at the top of the Players Championship headboard after the 65th opening round at TPC Sawgrass; Rory McIlroy 14 hits from the lead after struggling to seven more than 79 – watch the second round live on Friday from 11.30am on Sky Sports The Players
Last Updated: 11/03/21 11:10 pm
Spain’s Sergio Garcia will play tee shot on the ninth hole in the first round of the Players’ Championship
Nick Dougherty will take a look at an impressive start from Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood at The Players, as well as try to explain what went wrong for Rory McIlroy on the opening day at TPC Sawgrass.
This is Ryder Cup year and you can’t imagine a European side without Sergio there, yet. He is still more of a kind player, as he confirmed on his first day at Sawgrass. You wouldn’t bet on it at the Players, a well-known and well-known tournament.
When I spoke to Patrick Harrington in the Middle East earlier this year, he is banking on Garcia and Paul Casey being part of his European team at Whistling Straits. There still seems to be a long way to go, but if either is in remote form in August, they will be selected if they are not already equipped.
2:04 A look back at the best of the action from the opening round of Sergio Garcia 65 at The Players, seeing the Spaniard set the clubhouse target
We’ve already seen Garcia win this season’s PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, with the Spaniard also getting a couple of good results on the European Tour with Dubai tied for sixth and tied-12th in Saudi Arabia.
Confidence is returning for Garcia and he said after Thursday 65 that it is a course that just fits his eye. It’s been controversial several times outside of what it won in 2008, which is very rare when you look at the history of this event because you don’t see a lot of regular shows.
2:08 Sergio Garcia reflects on an elegant finale to his opening round at The Players and explains why he enjoys playing at TPC Sawgrass so much
It doesn’t surprise me, remembering how good Sergio is from tee to green, and it’s always nice to see him at the top of the dashboard. Not just for him, but for European golf as well.
We saw this with Lee Westwood at Bay Hill last week. Get a little injection of confidence and remind yourself “I can still play this game”. It doesn’t matter if they are on the wrong side of 40. In Lee’s case, he is closer to 50 and he is the Race to Dubai manager.
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They both have the confidence of being able to get on with the best in the world, and the longest. Of course, you will lose some power as you get older, but Sergio and Lee still put it off long enough to compete with the elite and those two still have a lot to offer.
More McIlroy struggle
McIlroy spoke of a prequel about the “two-way messages” that had surfaced into his game recently. However, during Sawgrass’ s first round, all his great missions were left, apart from both sides.
2:56 Rory McIlroy’s title defense got off to a nightmare start at The Players, as the 2019 champion doubled his opening hole of the tournament
He’s always been at his best hitting a soft pull, but he also likes to mix and beat a little now and then. Working the ball from left to right for him, he feels he can be more tolerant with his arms, but be very aggressive with his turn at the same time.
He struck several blows where he looked as if his hands and arms were passing him, going over and making the ball turn left. He also talked about this at Bay Hill before going on the field, to stop too many from turning the club through to victory.
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That’s a byproduct of hands, arms and body not being in sync, and that’s going to feel bad for golf at any level. When you have a weapon as powerful as his and not under his control, that is bad news.
If he doesn’t square up against a club in time, he’ll go right. And if he turns too far, he leaves. So when he stands over the ball without knowing which one is more likely to happen, he’s not sure where he’s going to aim!
2:23 Rory McIlroy picked up a soft rectangle at TPC Sawgrass’ par-four 18th after putting two balls in the water and then three
It’s unusual to miss all the sights in one place, but if it’s consistent, it’s easier to repair than if you have all the lefts and rights in the same round of golf.
McIlroy will work hard to regain some comfort on the ball in the coming weeks, and hopefully that will get established in time for the Masters. For now, if you’re not happy with the ball, you’re going to struggle, especially on a course like Sawgrass.
Watch the Players Tournament during the week live on Sky Sports’ dedicated channel – Sky Sports The Players. Live coverage continues Friday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf.