The opening round at The Players was an extreme reminder that sometimes the difference between winning and losing a golf tournament is simply the luck of the draw of your tee time. The 144-man field played two different courses on Thursday. Rory McIlroy, who had a late tee time in the first round, said as much as he gripped onto an even-par score coming into the clubhouse.
The Players Championship 2016: Tee times, pairings for Round 2 at TPC Sawgrass
A player’s tee time in the opening round had the biggest influence on where they ended up on the leaderboard. Now half the field will need to go low on Friday morning to try and even things out.
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“I don’t know what the guys were doing out there this morning, but I don’t think we saw the same golf course this afternoon,” McIlroy said. “It was a little firmer, the wind got up a little bit, and those guys made the course look awfully easy this morning.”
There were birdies everywhere in the morning. If you weren’t under par, you were losing ground. Almost everyone was in the red and going streaking. Justin Rose played five holes in 6-under. Shane Lowry became the first player ever to break 30 on TPC Sawgrass’ back nine. Jason Day opened with three straight birdies and then went on to match the course record with a 9-under 63. It was as easy at the Stadium Course gets, and most of the top talents took advantage before half the field even got to the course to warm up on the range.
Only one player on the afternoon side of the draw approached the mid-60s, and most tried to huddle up around even-par. So yes, it was a different challenge, and McIlroy is hoping they get the same treatment on Friday when his side of the draw is out in the morning. It’s unlikely the course will be as easy as that again, as it gets firmer and more difficult with each day this weekend. But the weather is supposed to be relatively calm, and they will have those chances on fresh greens to go out there and make an early move.
McIlroy will play Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson in the marquee tee time of the morning at 8:43 a.m. ET. Defending champ Rickie Fowler, who is also at even-par, will be out two groups ahead with Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar.
Day’s group will get the spotlight during the afternoon Golf Channel coverage, going with Jordan Spieth and Branden Grace at 1:58 p.m. ET. Everyone’s favorite dad Phil Mickelson will also be out in the afternoon. There are still 54 holes to play, but as we saw on Thursday, the simple luck of your tee time may decide whether you’re around to see the weekend.
Here’s the full tee sheet for the second round at TPC Sawgrass:
Morning wave off No. 1:
| Tee Time | Players | ||
| 7:15 a.m. | Boo Weekley | Shawn Stefani | Andres Gonzales |
| 7:26 a.m. | Ryan Palmer | Patrick Rodgers | Carlos Ortiz |
| 7:37 a.m. | Bryce Molder | William McGirt | Colt Knost |
| 7:48 a.m. | Scott Piercy | Ben Martin | Hunter Mahan |
| 7:59 a.m. | Vaughn Taylor | Matt Jones | Vijay Singh |
| 8:10 a.m. | Brian Stuard | David Lingmerth | John Senden |
| 8:21 a.m. | Justin Thomas | Davis Love III | Alex Cejka |
| 8:32 a.m. | Smylie Kaufman | Jimmy Walker | Russell Henley |
| 8:43 a.m. | Camilo Villegas | Harris English | Keegan Bradley |
| 8:54 a.m. | Brendon de Jonge | Erik Compton | Soren Kjeldsen |
| 9:05 a.m. | John Huh | Spencer Levin | Rafa Cabrera Bello |
| 9:16 a.m. | Greg Owen | Scott Pinckney | Kiradech Aphibarnrat |
Morning wave off No. 10:
| Tee Time | Players | ||
| 7:15 a.m. | Kevin Na | Morgan Hoffmann | Chad Collins |
| 7:26 a.m. | Jonas Blixt | Sean O'Hair | Adam Hadwin |
| 7:37 a.m. | Carl Pettersson | George McNeill | Jason Bohn |
| 7:48 a.m. | Robert Streb | Kevin Streelman | Brendon Todd |
| 7:59 a.m. | Fabian Gomez | Padraig Harrington | Retief Goosen |
| 8:10 a.m. | Zach Johnson | Patrick Reed | Sergio Garcia |
| 8:21 a.m. | Adam Scott | Rickie Fowler | Matt Kuchar |
| 8:32 a.m. | Hideki Matsuyama | Graeme McDowell | Louis Oosthuizen |
| 8:43 a.m. | Bubba Watson | Rory McIlroy | Dustin Johnson |
| 8:54 a.m. | Scott Brown | Harold Varner III | Byeong-Hun An |
| 9:05 a.m. | Ken Duke | Steve Wheatcroft | Andy Sullivan |
| 9:16 a.m. | Mark Wilson | Charles Howell III | Jon Curran |
Afternoon wave off No. 1:
| Tee Time | Players | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | Jason Gore | Graham DeLaet | Francesco Molinari |
| 12:41 p.m. | Johnson Wagner | Jerry Kelly | Kevin Chappell |
| 12:52 p.m. | Gary Woodland | David Hearn | Hudson Swafford |
| 1:03 p.m. | Matt Every | Webb Simpson | Ernie Els |
| 1:14 p.m. | Tony Finau | Peter Malnati | K.J. Choi |
| 1:25 p.m. | Danny Willett | Brandt Snedeker | Justin Rose |
| 1:36 p.m. | Martin Kaymer | Henrik Stenson | Phil Mickelson |
| 1:47 p.m. | Russell Knox | Jim Furyk | Billy Horschel |
| 1:58 p.m. | Branden Grace | Jason Day | Jordan Spieth |
| 2:09 p.m. | Chris Stroud | Daniel Berger | Bernd Wiesberger |
| 2:20 p.m. | Ian Poulter | Marc Leishman | Bernhard Langer |
| 2:31 p.m. | Brendan Steele | Jamie Lovemark | Jeff Overton |
Afternoon wave off No.10:
| Tee Time | Players | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | Ricky Barnes | Jason Kokrak | Patton Kizzire |
| 12:41 p.m. | Cameron Tringale | Daniel Summerhays | Will Wilcox |
| 12:52 p.m. | Freddie Jacobson | Chad Campbell | Matthew Fitzpatrick |
| 1:03 p.m. | Shane Lowry | Troy Merritt | Paul Casey |
| 1:14 p.m. | J.B. Holmes | Brian Harman | Chesson Hadley |
| 1:25 p.m. | Jim Herman | Emiliano Grillo | Brooks Koepka |
| 1:36 p.m. | James Hahn | Bill Haas | Ryan Moore |
| 1:47 p.m. | Charley Hoffman | Danny Lee | Chris Kirk |
| 1:58 p.m. | J.J. Henry | Steven Bowditch | Nick Taylor |
| 2:09 p.m. | Jason Dufner | Kevin Kisner | Luke Donald |
| 2:20 p.m. | Martin Laird | Jhonattan Vegas | Si Woo Kim |
| 2:31 p.m. | Chez Reavie | Kyle Reifers | Zac Blair |
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